By ACLU
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
NEW ORLEANS —The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of ACLU of Louisiana Justice Lab client, Mr. Bilal Hankins, a Black man who was a teenager at the time of the incident. The published opinion sets a precedent in the deep south that there is no basis to stop and seize Black motorists without particularized suspicion and police officers will not be immunized when they do so.
On June 13, 2020, Mr. Hankins was driving with friends looking for a lost dog when they saw a private neighborhood security car. Mr. Hankins drove up to the officer, Mr. Kevin Wheeler, and told him about the lost dog in the hope that Officer Wheeler could help. Officer Kevin Wheeler, who had previously been fired from the New Orleans Police Department for lying in a use of force investigation and was now working as a paid detail for the Hurstville Security District, instead radioed fellow officer Mr. Ramon Pierre for back up. The two proceeded to follow Mr. Hankins, pull him over with flashing lights, and point their firearms at Mr. Hankins and his friends in the car, only letting them go after Mr. Hankins again told the officers that they were looking for a lost dog.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana had previously ruled in favor of the officers, arguing that qualified immunity dictated that the officers’ actions of stopping and holding Mr. Hankins and others at gunpoint failed to amount to a violation of his constitutional rights. The Fifth Circuit disagreed, reversing the dismissal of Mr. Hankins’ lawsuit.
In its decision, the Fifth Circuit stated that the officers provided “no explanation for why driving slowly on a residential street would support a particularized suspicion” that Mr. Hankins and his friends were engaging in criminal activity, instead relying “entirely on the disputed testimony” for their argument.
“One of the most conservative courts in the country found in a precedent-setting opinion that qualified immunity, as strong as it may be, doesn’t protect officers who racially profile Black motorists. This is a monumental victory, particularly in the deep south, where we know from our clients this still happens daily” said Nora Ahmed, legal director at the ACLU of Louisiana. “Black people affirmatively approaching officers for police assistance is not suspicious and does not justify stopping them, let alone seizing them with a firearm. No post-hoc justification about generalized crime will immunize officers who make such a stop. These events were extremely traumatic, and we applaud Mr. Hankins for coming forward and trusting us with his case.”
“This is the first step in securing justice for Mr. Hankins and we look forward to supporting him throughout his case against the officers,” said Cooley special counsel Patrick Hayden, who led the Cooley pro bono team on the matter. “This is one example of Cooley’s pro bono work to seek justice for individuals facing insurmountable obstacles.”
Hankins v. Wheeler is the 13th lawsuit filed through the Justice Lab initiative, which has challenged racially discriminatory policing practices and police violence against people of color since 2020. This victory comes on the heels of over a dozen favorably resolved cases in the span of less than four years. Justice Lab has filed more than 50 cases across Louisiana against law enforcement agencies since launching in 2020. For more information, visit aclujusticelab.org.
View oral argument at the Fifth Circuit
