The Supreme Court just tossed out a federal appeals decision that would have allowed a police officer to sue Black Lives Matter protestor and activist DeRay McKesson.
The case stems from a 2016 incident in Baton Rouge, La. that occurred after the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, who was killed by a white officer. The murder launched weeks of protests, and during one of these protests, an officer identified as John Doe was hit in the face by a rock. He blamed getting hit on McKesson, claiming that he “knew or should have known…that violence would result.” In addition to McKesson, the officer went ahead and sued the Black Lives Matter organization, but that was tossed out after it was decided that Black Lives Matter is a social movement and cannot be sued, USA Today Reports.
A lower court decided to move the officer’s lawsuit forward, which would hold McKesson responsible for the injuries the officer sustained, including injuries to his brain, jaw and teeth. The Supreme Court ended up saying that the appeals court should not have reached its ruling on the basis of the case infringing on the First Amendment in an unsigned opinion.
“The Fifth Circuit should not have ventured into so uncertain an area of tort law — one laden with value judgments and fraught with implications for First Amendment rights — without first seeking guidance on potentially controlling Louisiana law from the Louisiana Supreme Court,” the justices said. New Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the case.
David Cole, the ACLU’s legal director, had said allowing the appeals court decision to stand “would have a tremendous chilling effect on the First Amendment right to protest.” From the officer’s end, lawyers were arguing that turning back the ruling would “would encourage negligent, unpeaceful, and illegal behavior at the expense of others and, in particular, would expose law enforcement officers to serious harm.”
