Court revives lawsuit of Black pastor who was arrested while watering his neighbor’s flowers

Associated Press/Report for America

Montgomery, Ala. (AP) — A federal appeals court says that the Alabama police officers who arrested a Black pastor while he watered his neighbor’s plants can be sued. Friday’s decision by the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals reverses a lower court judge’s decision to dismiss the pastor’s lawsuit. The appeals court unanimously ruled that the three officers who arrested Michael Jennings lacked probable cause for the arrest and are therefore not shielded by qualified immunity. Jennings was arrested in 2022 after a white neighbor reported him to police as he was watering his friend’s garden. Jennings repeatedly identified himself to responding officers, but authorities arrested him because he refused to provide a physical ID.