In December 2023, the United States District Court for the Sourthern District of Georgia denied qualified immunity to the defendant officers, ruling that a jury must decide the claims. Defendants appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral argument was held on March 27, 2025 and a decision has yet to be issued.
The University of Georgia School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic represented a south Georgia resident on claims of First Amendment retaliation and malicious prosecution against officers in the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. Plaintiff was criminally prosecuted for exercising her rights of free speech and petition when she called Camden County 911 to request help stopping gunshots near her home.
The following Clinic students and legal fellows advanced the case under the supervision of Clinic director Clare R. Norins:
Spring 2025 – Grace Lane, Olha Kaliuzhna & Harsh Patel
Fall 2024 – Joseph Will, Charlotte Umanoff, Grace Lane & Jackson Rowe
Spring 2024 – Mona Abboud, Paige Batten, Alex Klein
Fall 2023 – Katie Davis, Nico Boggs, Mona Abboud, Eli Klenberg, Alex Klein, Alex Cross
Summer 2023 – Anyamobi Ananaba, Alex Cross
Spring 2023 – Joshua Dillard, Mia McKnight
Fall 2022 – Colton Carpenter, Hanna Esserman, Maryam Shokry
Summer 2022 – Marlene Berroa Rodriguez, Kyle Steinberg
Spring 2022 – Ben Causey, Emma Courtney, Matthew Hashemi
Fall 2021 – Jack Mahon, Paige Medley, Brianna Yates
Summer 2021 – Daniel Zimmer
Spring 2021 – Janay Alexander, Mark Bailey, Kirstiana Perryman
Fall 2020 – Janay Alexander, Wess Helton
Summer 2020 – Jeffrey Murphy
Law Fellows – Allyson Veile, Ashley Fox, Samantha Hamilton, Lindsey Floyd, and David Afahame
The Issue
Speech-Based Retaliation
The First Amendment prohibits the government from retaliating against individuals exercising their rights to free speech, press, assembly, and petition of the government for redress of grievances. Read more about our work to address retaliation against individuals who have engaged in protected expression, newsgathering, and petitioning.
Explore Issue