On Monday, the Supreme Court voted 7-1 in favor of Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson, who was fighting a lawsuit filed by a police officer who was injured after a protest in July 2016.
The protest was organized by McKesson after the killing of Alton Sterling, a Black man, by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The protest took place on a highway in front of the police headquarters, where one officer was hit by a piece of concrete that was allegedly thrown by a protestor, injuring him. Even though the protestor was never identified, the police officer sued McKesson on the basis of organizing the protest and made him liable for any damages.
After filing the case through a federal district court and having the officer’s claim rejected, a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal reversed the panel’s decision and allowed it to proceed through the judicial system to the Supreme Court on the basis that “a violent confrontation with a police officer was a foreseeable effect of negligently directing a protest,” onto the road.
Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and First Amendment activists argued that the court of appeals’ decision conflicted with a SCOTUS ruling in 1982, NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., which addressed limitations for liability in protests. The NAACP also filed a friend-of-the-court brief after the ACLU filed Mckesson’s case to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that the federal appeals court should have consulted with the Louisiana Supreme Court and that the Fifth Circuit court should not have “ventured into so uncertain an area” of law that was “laden with value judgements and fraught with implications for First Amendment rights,” before guidance on Louisiana law.
Vera Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, praised the Supreme Court for its decision, saying that “protesters cannot be held liable for the unlawful acts of others that they did not direct, order, or incite simply because they were at the same protest.” He also said he was “gratified” the Supreme Court recognized the First Amendment right.
McKesson, the cofounder of Campaign Zero, has advocated for issues relating to children, youth and families as a Baltimore civil rights activist since he was a teenager. He has been recognized by President Obama for his work as a community organizer and is known within the Black Lives Matter movement for providing a platform to activists, organzaiers, and influencers.
