Summary
The Fifth Circuit reversed the Middle District of Louisiana’s grant of summary judgment for DeRay McKesson in Officer John Ford’s negligence action arising from injuries sustained during a 2016 Baton Rouge protest. The court held that the record presented genuine disputes regarding McKesson’s leadership of the protest, breach of duty, and causation, and rejected the district court’s conclusion that the First Amendment barred the negligence claim. The case was remanded for further proceedings.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the summary-judgment record contained genuine disputes of material fact concerning each element of Ford's Louisiana negligence claim.
- Whether a reasonable jury could find that McKesson owed Ford a duty of care, breached that duty by negligently organizing and leading the protest, and caused Ford's injuries.
- Whether the First Amendment barred Ford's negligence claim or otherwise immunized McKesson from liability.
- Whether the district court was bound by the Fifth Circuit's prior holding that imposing negligence liability on McKesson did not offend the First Amendment.
Holdings
- Summary judgment was improper because the record contained genuine disputes of material fact that a reasonable jury could resolve in Ford's favor on the elements of his negligence claim.
- Under Louisiana law, McKesson owed a potential duty of care not to negligently precipitate the crime of a third party when organizing and leading the protest.
- A reasonable jury could find that McKesson breached his duty of reasonable care by organizing and leading the protest in a manner in which a violent confrontation with police was reasonably foreseeable.
- A reasonable jury could find that McKesson's conduct was a cause-in-fact of Ford's injuries.
- Ford's injuries fell within the scope of protection afforded by the duty to exercise reasonable care in organizing and leading a protest.
- The First Amendment did not bar Ford's negligence claim at the summary-judgment stage, and the district court was bound by the Fifth Circuit's prior holding that imposing negligence liability on McKesson did not offend the First Amendment.
Key quotations
“Eight years of pretrial litigation are enough. It is time for Officer Ford to have a jury assess his claim that DeRay Mckesson’s negligence in leading a violent protest caused him to suffer injuries at the hands of rioters.” (page 2)
“Summary judgment is proper when “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”” (page 6)
“The district court erred in departing from this court’s earlier holding that “imposing negligence liability on Mckesson does not offend the First Amendment.”” (page 14)
Factual background
During a July 2016 Black Lives Matter protest in Baton Rouge, DeRay McKesson participated in organizing and leading demonstrators who eventually moved onto a public highway. Protesters looted a store, threw water bottles at police, and engaged in other unlawful conduct while McKesson was allegedly directing or leading the crowd. A rioter threw a piece of concrete or a rock that struck Officer John Ford in the face, causing extensive dental and jaw injuries, a concussion, post-traumatic stress disorder, lasting vision problems, and the need to leave law enforcement work.
Procedural history
Ford sued McKesson and Black Lives Matter defendants in federal district court, asserting negligence, respondeat superior, and civil-conspiracy claims. The district court dismissed the claims with prejudice and denied leave to amend; the Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal of the organizational, respondeat-superior, and conspiracy claims but reversed dismissal of the negligence claim. After Supreme Court review, certification of Louisiana-law questions to the Louisiana Supreme Court, and a further Fifth Circuit decision remanding for trial, the district court granted McKesson summary judgment, finding insufficient evidence of leadership, duty, causation, and First Amendment protection. The Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded.
Remand instructions
The district court must proceed consistently with the Fifth Circuit's opinion, allowing Ford's negligence claim to proceed beyond summary judgment and toward further proceedings, including a jury assessment of the claim.