A police officer who manufactured a reason to arrest a man whom he saw walking along a road could end up facing serious consequences.
That’s after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed itself, based on a new precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court, and allowed a case against the officer to move forward.
“This ruling reminds police that the Constitution does not allow them to arrest people for bruising their egos,” explained lawyer Marie Miller, who represents Mason Murphy.
“Mason will finally have his day in court, signaling stronger protection for every American who speaks up when government officials overstep.”
The Institute for Justice explained the case:
“Murphy’s ordeal began in May 2021, when he was walking on the shoulder of a rural road. Officer Schmitt stopped him, demanded identification, and—after nine minutes of back-and-forth during which Murphy calmly asked what law he had broken—handcuffed Mason and put him in jail. Body-camera footage of the arrest shows Schmitt scrambling to invent a charge—at one point asking a superior officer, ‘What can I charge him with?’ Murphy was released two hours later and was not charged with any crime.”
Schmitt is Sunrise Beach, Missouri, police officer Michael Schmitt, against whom the case now will proceed.
Murphy’s case raises the question about whether police can jail someone to punish them for questioning their authority.
The ruling stems from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Gonzalez v. Trevino, which made clear that police and other government officials are not immune from suit when they arrest people in retaliation for exercising their First Amendment rights.
The Eighth Circuit had ruled against Murphy but reversed itself when the Supreme Court vacated that ruling and sent the case back for further review.