A group of Alabama judges recently ruled in favor of a Black pastor who was wrongfully arrested in his own neighborhood.
According to The Associated Press , Jennings is now able to sue the police officers who arrested him. When Jennings decided to sue the cops, Chief District Judge R. David Proctor dismissed the lawsuit in December 2023. His judgment was based on qualified immunity, which “protects a government official from lawsuits alleging that the official violated a plaintiff’s rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a ‘clearly established’ statutory or constitutional right,” per Cornell Law School.
On Sept. 27, three judges of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals agreed to reverse the original ruling. Subsequently, the officers involved will not be protected by qualified immunity going forward.
In May 2022, a white resident in Jennings’ neighborhood reported him to the police while he was watering the plants of his neighbor, who was vacationing at the time. Shortly after the officers arrived on the scene, they handcuffed Jennings because he refused to show them his ID. Body camera footage shows him repeatedly saying he was “Pastor Jennings” and lived across the street.