5th Circuit Shields Texas Officers from Lawsuit Over Ant Hill Restraint
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that two Santa Fe police officers are protected by qualified immunity in a case where a handcuffed woman was forced onto a fire-ant mound.
In an August 6 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit granted qualified immunity to two Santa Fe police officers who restrained Taylor Rogers by pinning her face down on a fire-ant mound while she was handcuffed. The panel overturned a district-court ruling that had let her civil-rights lawsuit move forward against the City of Santa Fe and the officers. The court reasoned that no prior case had declared the specific leg-leverage technique on an ant hill unconstitutional, so the officers were shielded from liability.
Rogers, arrested in 2021 for reckless driving, alleged excessive force, failure to intervene, and cruel punishment, citing footage of her pleading for the officers to stop. Her lawyer, Randy Kallinen, condemned the decision as out of touch with the Constitution and said he will request an en banc hearing and consider a Supreme Court appeal if denied.
Why it matters
The ruling highlights how qualified immunity can block civil suits over extreme police tactics, affecting accountability standards.
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