The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution[1] prohibits the “unreasonable” “seizure” of persons by governmental agencies. In Gonzalez v. Trevino, decided on June 20, 2024, the Court allowed the plaintiff’s federal civil rights lawsuit, which alleged the defendant city officials had arrested her in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights, to proceed toward a trial despite the fact that plaintiff practically admitted that the officials had “probable cause” to order her arrest. The Court explained that a First Amendment “retaliation” lawsuit could proceed, despite “probable cause” for the plaintiff’s arrest, when the plaintiff can offer objective proof that the arresting officials usually did not arrest people accused of conduct roughly similar to that of the plaintiff. The vote on the Court was 8-1, with only Justice Thomas dissenting.
Comment: An arrest can be regarded as “unreasonable,” even when the arresting officer or magistrate has “probable cause” to believe the suspect committed the alleged crime, when the officer, acting within his or her lawful discretion, usually ignores the allegation of misconduct as something too minor to prosecute.
Dan Rhea
[1] together with the 14th Amendment,
RECENT RULINGS 