Court Denies Qualified Immunity for Arrest of Man Wearing “F” the Police Shirt – Everything Law and Order Blog

In 2016, police officers in Ohio pulled a man out of a crowd because he was wearing a “F” the police T-shirt, taunted him about the shirt, and ultimately arrested him under a “disorderly conduct” law. A few days ago, the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion denying qualified immunity to these officers in the pending civil rights lawsuit. I recently discussed a West Virginia case where police apparently thought they had the power to be the language police. This has been a widespread problem for many years. It’s not really that the police have sensitive ears, or that they’re concerned about the sensitive nature of innocent bystanders. It’s about respecting what they perceive to be their authority, as well as for use as a pretext to harass or detain people who are relevant to their interests.

Read more: https://thecivilrightslawyer.com/2022/02/17/6th-circuit-denies-qualified-immunity-for-arrest-of-man-wearing-f-the-police-shirt/

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37 thoughts on “Court Denies Qualified Immunity for Arrest of Man Wearing “F” the Police Shirt”
  1. What I find very disturbing. Is the fact that you have to prove that the officers. Knowing did something that is against your civil rights. We, the people, are told that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

  2. My take on this subject is that the law has to know by now what is protected speech ect. They don't care. Only one person on a hundred thousand is going to challenge them in court over the matter. For myself I would not be a cop auditor but these people are very important in our modern day times and are probably all that is keeping the law somewhat honest.

  3. Again proof of cowardice. Instead of buying the guy a bear and have a chat over a coffee or else. Just plain cowardice, hypocrisy, laziness, disregard to the use of language, effort to maintain own ignorance… Just full blown fanatic viciousness. It makes for a great picture for the guys in uniform in general. Keep at it.

  4. After prevailing in an appeal to reinstate his First Amendment claims in the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Case Western Reserve University’s First Amendment Clinic recovered $29,750 in attorney fees through a settlement on behalf of its client, Michael Wood, from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Wood recovered a total of $155,000 from the incident after the Sixth Circuit reinstated his false arrest and retaliation claims predicated upon his First Amendment protected speech.

  5. I could be wrong, But I believe even though the police know they are arresting people for things that are perfectly, i think their goal is to try to make case law by winning in court on something…..like attempting to slowly mold the laws to the wishes of the Police themselves.

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