Michael Jennings, a pastor arrested while tending his out-of-town neighbors’ yard, can sue the city of Childersburg, Alabama, and three police officers involved in the case.
On Friday (Sept. 27), a three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a lower-court ruling that had dismissed Jennings’ lawsuit. The officers aren’t protected by qualified immunity, the panel said, because they had no probable cause to arrest Jennings.
Jennings, who is Black, was confronted by police in May 2022, after a white woman called 911 to report a “suspicious individual” in a neighboring yard. The pastor, who identified himself verbally but refused to show his ID, said friends had asked him to water their flowers while they were away.
RELATED: Alabama Pastor Arrested While Watering Neighbor’s Flowers, Prepares Discrimination Lawsuit
Body camera footage released a few months later shows Jennings being handcuffed and placed in a police vehicle. “Y’all racially profiled me,” he told the officers after they arrested him. A charge of obstructing government operations was dismissed days later.
Attorney Calls Ruling ‘A Win for Justice’
Alabama’s “stop and identify” law, which permits officers to demand identification, applies when police have “reasonable suspicion” that someone is committing a crime, the 11th Circuit Court ruled.
“While it is always advisable to cooperate with law enforcement officers, Jennings was under no legal obligation to provide his ID,” said the court. “Therefore, officers lacked probable cause for Jennings’ arrest…because Jennings did not commit an independent unlawful act by refusing to give ID.”
Jennings, pastor of Vision of Abundant Life Church in Sylacauga, Alabama, said the officers “dehumanized” him and violated his constitutional and civil rights. Jennings’ lawsuit claims he suffers from “ongoing emotional distress,” including PTSD-like symptoms, nightmares, and flashbacks.
Harry Daniels, the lead attorney for Jennings, said Friday’s ruling was “a win for Pastor Jennings and a win for justice.” Daniels claimed the body-cam video showed that officers were intent on arresting the pastor but “then tried to rewrite history claiming he hadn’t identified himself, when that was the first thing he did.”
Daniels added, “Finally, Pastor Jennings will have his day in court and prove that wearing a badge does not give you the right to break the law.” The ruling could impact other civil rights cases throughout Alabama, according to the attorney.
Pastor Michael Jennings Thanked God for Sparing Him
As ChurchLeaders has reported, Jennings said he holds no grudge against the neighbor who called police on him. “I don’t hold anything against my neighbors. I still speak to them,” he said in 2022. “Matter of fact, I’ve talked to [the woman’s] husband since the incident, and he was telling me how bad she feels about it.”
RELATED: Pastor Arrested While Watering Neighbors’ Flowers Extends Love to the Woman Who Called 911 on Him
“I love that neighbor just as well as I love the one where I was watering their flowers,” said the pastor. “May not have to like them all the time, but we have to love them anyway.”
