via
Getty)
You
know
that
part
where
you
get
off
a
plane
and
a
couple
of
officers
immediately
ask
you
which
drugs
you’re
trafficking?
No?
Eric
André
does,
and
has
since
felt
a
moral
calling
to
do
what
he
can
to
fight
the
“consensual
encounter”
in
an
Atlanta
airport
that
felt
a
lot
more
like
racial
profiling.
You
can
listen
to
his
own
account
of
the
encounter
below:
Thankfully,
he’s
going
to
set
a
second
chance
at
reducing
the
likelihood
that
Atlanta
airport
patrons
aren’t
similarly
harassed.
NBC
News
has
coverage:
A
federal
appeals
court
decided
to
reverse
the
dismissal
of
a
lawsuit
comedians
Eric
André
and
Clayton
English
filed
in
2022
claiming
their
Fourth
Amendment
rights
were
violated.
…
The
district
court
dismissed
their
lawsuit
in
2023,
citing
the
plaintiffs’
“failure
to
plausibly
allege
any
constitutional
violations,”
and
all
defendants,
including
Clayton
County
and
the
police
department’s
chief,
were
protected
by
immunity.
But
the
11th
U.S.
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals
said
in
its
opinion
that
it
found
that
André
and
English
“plausibly
alleged
that
Clayton
County
subjected
them
to
unreasonable
searches
and
seizures”
and
reversed
the
dismissal
“after
careful
review.”
While
this
isn’t
a
complete
victory
—
the
court
found
that
the
individual
officers
were
protected
by
qualified
immunity
—
a
successful
suit
against
Clayton
County
could
still
get
rid
of
the
“consensual
encounters”
that
just
happened
to
pull
aside
Black
passengers
54%
of
the
time
despite
Black
passengers
only
making
up
8%
of
the
national
flying
public.
That
said,
kudos
to
whatever
police
PR
person
decided
to
call
profiling
flight
departees
“consensual
encounters”
instead
of
“flight
stop
and
frisk”
or
“harassing
anyone
who
looks
like
they
have
money.”
It
is
hard
to
see
the
usefulness
of
the
program
considering
that
flyers
have
to
go
through
TSA
before
they
board
the
flight
—
any
drugs
or
illegal
items
should
have
been
caught
in
the
screening
process.
Best
of
luck
to
Eric
André
and
Clayton
English.
Eric
André
Lawsuit
Over
Drug
Search
At
Atlanta
Airport
Revived
By
Appeals
Court
[NBC
News]
Earlier:
Eric
André
Takes
A
Break
From
Slapstick
To
Stop
Atlanta
PD
From
Being
A
Flight
Risk
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.