Kendole Joseph, father of 2, beaten and tasered to death by police: Judge denies cops immunity
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Kendole Joseph was 27 years old when he died. He spent two days in the hospital after being arrested by no less than 12 Gretna, Louisiana, police officers on Feb. 7, 2017. He was the father of two children. While the Jefferson Parish coroner declineKendole Joseph, father of 2, beaten and tasered to death by police: Judge denies cops immunity
Kendole Joseph was 27 years old when he died. He spent two days in the hospital after being arrested by no less than 12 Gretna, Louisiana, police officers on Feb. 7, 2017. He was the father of two children. While the Jefferson Parish coroner declined to classify the manner of Jospeh’s death, a mountain of evidence told the story of a man having a mental health crisis who “endured twenty-six blunt-force injuries to his face, chest, back, extremities, scrotum, and testes” at the hands of Gretna police officers. Joseph had committed no crime and was not a suspect in a crime. He was unarmed, and while he attempted to hide in plain site from police, he did not resist arrest according to witnesses, as well as video footage of the tragic event. On Nov. 20, Fifth Circuit Judge Don Willett, wrote an opinion denying the officers named in a lawsuit brought by the Joseph family “qualified immunity.” As Techdirt points out, the Fifth Circuit has become known for not making decisions against officers in qualified immunity cases, and so this decision is a very important one, as Willett explains that “For those in positions of public trust—from Commanders in Chief (who must “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” ) to City of Gretna Police Officers (who “vow to protect life and property while safeguarding constitutional guarantees”)—proportional responses are good policy. We expect those charged with executing and enforcing our laws to take measured actions that ascend in severity only as circumstances require. A disproportionate response is unreasonable. And if it describes physical force inflicted by a police officer, it is unconstitutional.” Read more