From Evans v. Cabot School Dist., decided Thursday by Eighth Circuit Judge Michael Melloy, joined by Judges James Loken and Jonathan Kobes:
Two high school brothers were arrested for disorderly conduct after wearing {military-style} tactical vests to school. {Kameron's vest had a "U.S. Army" patch on it. The parties agree that the vests were not real tactical or military vests, nor were they bulletproof. Kameron's vest was mostly obscured under a large winter coat he was wearing. Noah did not have his coat on over his vest. Kameron also carried a green duffle bag that he used to carry his ROTC equipment. The Officers describe the bag as a "military-style duffle bag," but the Evanses dispute that the duffle bag was military-style. Kameron alleges that he regularly used the bag to carry his marching band and ROTC equipment, in addition to his Airsoft war game equipment.}
The brothers were acquitted, and sued the school resource officers; the court held that the officers weren't entitled to qualified immunity on the brothers' claim that they were arrested without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment:
