NEW ORLEANS —The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Mr. Wesley Pigott and his two children, who were followed by an unmarked police car and held at gunpoint by Rapides Parish Sheriff Office deputy Paul Gintz four years ago. Mr. Wesley Pigott and his children are represented by the ACLU of Louisiana, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed the appeal on behalf of the Pigotts.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana had previously blocked Mr. Pigott from suing, ruling that Deputy Gintz was protected by qualified immunity. The Fifth Circuit disagreed and ruled that Mr. Pigott’s lawsuit can continue. In their ruling, the Fifth Circuit referred to Hankins v. Wheeler, a Justice Lab case which blocked officers from using recent crimes in an area as reason to suspect someone of a crime. In Hankins, two Black teenagers were stopped at gunpoint, after asking law enforcement for help while searching for a lost dog in an Uptown neighborhood.
On April 17, 2020, Mr. Pigott was driving his truck with his Black son and his son’s two Hispanic friends in the truck bed, the only people visible to Deputy Gintz. Mr. Pigott noticed he was being followed by an unmarked truck for several miles and pulled over into an empty parking lot. Upon stopping his truck and opening his door, Mr. Pigott was immediately faced with a gun pointed at him by Deputy Gintz. Mr. Pigott’s son begged Gintz through tears, “please don’t shoot my daddy.” Gintz then turned the gun on Mr. Pigott’s son and his two friends. It was only after another officer was called to the scene, and deescalated Gintz’ interaction, that Mr. Pigott and his children were allowed to go home, with no charges filed.
Mr. Pigott’s case has drawn attention from qualified immunity legal scholars like Professor Alexander A. Reinert, who filed an amicus brief in support of this appeal. Mr. Reinert’s law review article exposed that the creation of qualified immunity by the courts conflicts with the law providing for civil rights lawsuits, which based on a mistake in transposing the law over to the United States Code, omitted critical language to this effect. Reinert’s research was referred to recently by a Fifth Circuit judge as “game-changing arguments.”
“Mr. Pigott’s children were racially profiled and subjected to terror at the hands of the Rapides Sheriff Office. He and his children deserve their day in court. I applaud the Fifth Circuit’s decision,” said Nora Ahmed, legal director at the ACLU of Louisiana. “The Justice Lab is chipping away at qualified immunity defenses that used to work in defending racial profiling. The Fifth Circuit decision today and their decision in Hankins v. Wheeler puts law enforcement in Louisiana on notice: your defense is getting slimmer and slimmer.”
“No child should ever have to witness their parent being held and threatened at gunpoint by a police officer. We look forward to the opportunity for the Pigott family to share their story in court,” said Delia Addo-Yobo, staff attorney at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
The ACLU Justice Lab initiative is dedicated to holding law enforcement agencies accountable through high-impact lawsuits. With a history of over 50 cases across Louisiana, the Justice Lab works to challenge and address civil rights violations, striving to create a more just and equitable legal system. For more information, visit aclujusticelab.org.
View the full decision from the Fifth Circuit Court: https://www.laaclu.org/sites/default/files/fifth_circuit_pigott_ruling.pdf
