By Heather Gann
al.com
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday that law enforcement officers can demand physical identification from a suspect who provides an incomplete or unsatisfactory oral answer during a lawful investigative stop.
The underlying lawsuit began in 2022, when Pastor Michael Jennings was arrested after watering his neighbor’s flowers in Childersburg.
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Police approached him because a neighbor had reported a “younger Black male” at the property. He told officers his name was “Pastor Jennings,” and that he lived across the street.
After he refused to give officers his ID, they charged him with obstructing government operations.
Jennings sued the officers and the city, and while a district judge dismissed his case in 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in 2024 that the officers did not have probable cause for his arrest.
The lower court then asked the Alabama Supreme Court to weigh in on whether law enforcement can require physical identification when someone “gives an incomplete or unsatisfactory oral response,” according to previous AL.com reporting.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Cato Institute and The Woods Foundation all previously filed amicus briefs in support of Jennings.
On Friday, Justice William Sellers, writing for the majority, concluded that the stop-and-identify law does not prohibit officers from requesting or demanding physical identification when a suspect gives an incomplete or unsatisfactory response.
If the information provided does not allow the officer to determine the person’s identity, Sellers wrote, officers may request or demand physical identification.
“Obtaining a person’s identity is a crucial part of a Terry stop,” the opinion reads, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s framework for brief investigative stops based on reasonable suspicion.
Sellers wrote nothing in the state law’s language or legislative history indicates the Legislature intended to prohibit officers from requesting proof of identity when necessary to confirm the information a suspect provides.
The court concluded that if a person fails to provide sufficient identifying information during a lawful stop, an officer may either arrest the person for interfering with a governmental function or seek additional identifying information, including physical identification.
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