Williamson v. Mills

Gerald Williamson sued Lieutenant Frederick Mills, an agent of the Florida Department of Business Regulation, Division of Alcoholic Beverages, for violations of Williamson’s First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights resulting from Mills’s detention of Williamson at Fourth of July festivities in 1991. Concluding that Mills is individually entitled to qualified immunity, the district court granted him summary judgment. Williamson appeals. We reverse and remand.

I. Background

The core facts are essentially undisputed. On July 4, 1991, the Florida Freedom Festival and Parade was…