Richard Hershey, a Louisiana resident, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit related to his lawsuit against local police. Hershey says officers threatened to arrest him for handing out religious leaflets, which he argues violates the First Amendment’s protections for free speech. According to reporting, the Fifth Circuit blocked his case on the grounds of qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that shields government officials from damages unless they violated clearly established federal rights.
Hershey is now seeking Supreme Court review, arguing that the lower court’s ruling conflicts with First Amendment principles and improperly applies qualified immunity in this context. The case centers on whether the officers’ conduct—threatening arrest for distributing religious materials—was unlawful under existing constitutional law such that qualified immunity should not apply. The Supreme Court request focuses on whether the appellate court’s approach to the qualified-immunity question prevents enforcement of free-speech rights.
