4th Circuit upholds $730K award to Black Secret Service agent
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on April 17, 2023
A federal appeals court has upheld a jury’s $730,000 award to a Black Secret Service agent unconstitutionally detained by two white U.S. Park Police officers during a traffic stop as he waited to accompany a Cabinet secretary’s motorcade in Maryland.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Gerald Ferreyra and Brian Phillips violated Nathaniel Hicks’ Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure, saying the officers acted without justification.
In its published 3-0 decision, the 4th Circuit said Ferreyra and Phillips did not have qualified immunity . . .
