Black Pastor Arrested For Watering White Neighbor’s Flowers Gets Green Light to Sue Police

Nationwide — Michael Jennings, an African American pastor from Childersburg, Alabama, who was arrested whereas watering flowers for his white neighbor, has received the proper to sue Alabama police after a federal appeals court docket overturned a earlier choice that blocked his lawsuit. Jennings had been innocently serving to his out-of-town neighbor by watering their vegetation two years in the past when a distinct neighbor, who mentioned she was disturbed by seeing a Black man within the space, known as the police for help.

In response to a information phase from Good Morning America, when officers arrived, they questioned Jennings regardless of the clear indication that he was watering flowers, holding a moist hose in his hand. Jennings defined that he lived close by and was a pastor, however refused to current ID, which led to his arrest. In Alabama, police do not need the authorized authority to demand identification with out cheap suspicion of wrongdoing. Regardless of this, a district decide had initially dismissed Jennings’ lawsuit, citing the police’s safety below certified immunity.

Jennings described the arrest as “dehumanizing” and took authorized motion, arguing that his constitutional rights had been violated. After the preliminary setback in court docket, the case was reviewed by a three-judge panel from the eleventh U.S. Courtroom of Appeals. The panel dominated unanimously that the officers lacked possible trigger for the arrest, nullifying their declare of certified immunity and permitting Jennings to maneuver ahead along with his lawsuit.

In response to his lawyer, Harry Daniels, this ruling is a big victory for Jennings and for justice. Daniels emphasised that the video proof from the officers’ physique cams clearly exhibits the occasions and that Jennings now has the possibility to show in court docket that the police acted unlawfully.