On March 21, 2012, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Reichle v. Howards. This case concerns an incident that occurred when a citizen briefly touched Vice President Cheney during a public appearance, made an anti-war remark to him, and was arrested some time later by Secret Service agents but was not ultimately prosecuted. The question in this case is twofold: (1) whether, if probable cause to make the arrest did exist, the citizen may nevertheless sue the agents for retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment; and (2) whether the agents were entitled to immunity from such a lawsuit under federal law.
To discuss the case, we have Scott Broyles, who is an Assistant Professor at Charlotte School of Law.
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