Courts

Cops Can Cancel Their Kickboxing Membership After This 5th Circuit Ruling

It's easy to back the blue when they're all black belts.

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‘Stop Resisting!’ (Image via Getty)

Circuit judges are pretty high up on the food chain when it comes to judicial influence. Even I, a lowly recent law school graduate, recognize that — I generally defer to the assumption that if they come to a conclusion, they know what they’re talking about. But Sonia Sotomayor is also a bit of a big deal. And she thinks that when several cops stopping some guy in traffic looks like a gang initiation, they shouldn’t get qualified immunity.

Gregory Tucker, a man who was pulled over for a broken brake light and a broken license plate light, got his ass beat by four officers.

Forgive me, let me describe it in more neutral terms.

Without physically resisting arrest, Tucker was violently pulled to the ground, causing his face to bleed as it smacked against the concrete. He suffered numerous injuries as a result.

Further:

“Once he landed on the ground, four officers surrounded him and were able to handcuff him in less than a minute; the fact that there were four officers and that Tucker was on the ground where he had less room to maneuver suggests a reduced threat to officer safety.”

The district court’s fact assessment goes on to note that the officers “each punched Tucker at least once, and McIntire kicked him at least three times” as Tucker was “kicking his legs while on the ground and was not laying still in order to allow himself to be handcuffed.”

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The district court that his case was brought in front of ruled that the officers’  behavior “[constituted] unreasonable violations of the Fourth Amendment and that they were not entitled to qualified immunity because Circuit precedent forbids slamming a non-violent suspect to the ground and because the force employed by the officers clashed with ‘clearly established principle that officers cannot strike a subdued and restrained suspect.'”

You’d think this was obvious, but the Fifth Circuit reversed, arguing in legalese that “The cops get qualified immunity. He shouldn’t have been moving so much as he recoiled in pain.” It’s one thing to get punched and kicked while you’re down, but it’s another for a bunch of people in robes to say, “Well, maybe you should have rolled with the punches better.”

Now before you keep reading, I’m inviting you to watch a bit of Baki Hanma. It’s a Netflix exclusive that centers on martial arts and the drive to be the very best. At one point in the show, an animated Mike Tyson is jumped by three corrections officers known as “The Mouth.” They earned that moniker because they do an amazing job at fighting in tandem. If there is one takeaway from this article, it should be this.

This fight where an animated Mike Tyson got jumped by three prison guards was fairer than what the Fifth Circuit blessed with their decision.

Now look — I’m a simple dude. I put my pants on one leg at a time just like most of you reading this. I even pay my taxes correctly, I think. But I also admit that despite my law abiding, I’m worried when I see cops. And It doesn’t feel unwarranted, considering that the Fifth Circuit overruled the district court despite taking the facts for granted.

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Maybe I’m just overreacting. It’s not like clear abuses of power are systemic or anything.

Justice Sotomayor Calls Out Fifth Circuit’s ‘Highly Questionable’ Reversal in Qualified Immunity Case of Man Kicked and Punched by Louisiana Cops [Law & Crime]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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