3 OctOber 5-11, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ MIAMI NO LAUGHING MATTER COMEDIAN HANNIBAL BURESS’ LAWSUIT OVER CONFRONTATION WITH WYNWOOD COP MOVES FORWARD. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN H annibal Buress has notched an incremental victory in a lawsuit that alleges he was slapped in handcuffs in retaliation for talk- ing smack to a Miami police of- ficer on a public street. Buress filed a federal lawsuit in 2020 against the City of Miami and police officer Luis Verne that stems from a 2017 incident during Art Basel. He says Verne wrongfully arrested him on a disorderly intoxication charge after he made fun of the cop following a night out drinking in Wynwood. At one point in the encounter, Buress de- clared into Verne’s body-worn camera, “Hey, what’s up? It’s me, Hannibal Buress! This cop is stupid as fuck.” He insisted that Verne was “just salty that [Buress] roasted his ass.” On August 30, U.S. District Judge Robert Scola Jr. denied the city’s and Verne’s motions for summary judgment in a ruling that moves the case one step closer to trial. The judge found a “genuine factual dis- pute” as to whether Verne had probable cause to arrest Buress under laws governing disorderly intoxication or disorderly conduct. The judge ruled that none of Buress’ speech appeared to fall outside the scope of First Amendment protections. “Even if it was undisputed that Buress ag- gressively verbally abused officer Verne and drew a crowd due to his behavior, such con- duct cannot form the basis for an arrest. An individual’s speech without more — even if the speech is offensive — cannot provide probable cause for either of these offenses under Supreme Court, Eleventh Circuit, and Florida Supreme Court precedent,” the judge wrote. In his motion, Verne had called Buress’ conduct “loud, insulting, profane” and “threat- ening” in a bid to justify detaining Buress. Scola granted a motion for summary judg- ment by a second officer, Elio Villegas, whom Buress accused of failing to intervene during the incident. Villegas arrived on the scene af- ter Buress was already in handcuffs and had no way of knowing Buress may have been wrongfully detained, the judge ruled. “Based on officer Verne’s body-worn camera footage and Buress’ version of events, officer Villegas did not have suffi- cient notice that officer Verne lacked proba- ble cause,” Scola wrote. Both officers argued they were entitled to qualified immunity, the legal principle that shields government officials from being sued personally for their actions on the job. Scola granted immunity to Villegas but de- nied it to Verne. The comedian’s lawsuit argues his false arrest highlights how the Miami Police De- partment (MPD) does not hold officers ac- countable and has a “practice of unconstitutional abuses of power including unlawful detentions and false arrests.” The complaint notes that nearly a year before Bu- ress’ arrest, an off-duty Verne choked a man and slammed his head into a bar at Miller’s Ale House in Kendall. In December 2017, the comedian was hanging out in Wynwood during Art Basel when he asked officer Verne to call him an Uber because his phone died. He offered Verne $20, but the officer declined. “Moments after defendant officer Verne declined Mr. Buress’s request, Mr. Buress ob- served defendant officer Verne — who was wearing his MPD uniform and clearly on duty — interacting with and kissing young women leaving a club,” the lawsuit states. Buress then cracked a joke in response: “You’re over there kissing [women] but can’t call me an Uber?” The complaint says the joke was not well received, and the officer turned aggressive. He allegedly ordered Buress to leave the area and later followed him into another bar as Buress looked for a phone charger. The offi- cer then claimed Buress was too drunk and ordered him out of the bar. As the two stood outside, Verne turned on his body camera and again ordered Buress to leave. The comedian started walking away when he turned around and declared the cop “stupid as fuck.” Immediately thereafter, Verne placed Bu- ress in handcuffs and refused to explain why. Buress was hit with a disorderly intoxica- tion charge, which prosecutors later dropped. “As a result of his arrest and the resulting publicity, Mr. Buress lost paid engagements,” the lawsuit alleges. “Mr. Buress was also forced to divert his time and financial re- sources to defend against the false charge de- fendant Verne filed against him.” The city argued in its motion that the co- median failed to show that it has a “custom or policy constituting deliberate indifference that caused the violation.” The judge dis- agreed, writing Buress provided evidence that “could establish that the city knew of and ignored constitutional violations similar to those alleged in this case.” Earlier this month, Verne filed an appeal over the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Verne has also faced claims related to off- duty incidents where he was allegedly “under the influence of alcohol and had anger is- sues,” according to the city’s Civilian Investi- gative Panel (CIP). | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Comedian Hannibal Buress says he was wrongfully arrested by police officer Luis Verne in 2017. Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images ▼ FLORIDA WE’RE NUMBER ONE! FLORIDA SURPASSES TEXAS AS THE LEADER IN U.S. SCHOOL BOOK BANS. BY ALEX DELUCA I t’s official — Florida now leads the nation in school book bans, according to a new report. The report, released last month by non- profit organization PEN America, found that Florida has outdone Texas when it comes to re- moving books from public school libraries and classrooms — with more than 40 percent of book bans in the United States this year taking place in the Sunshine State, according to the re- port entitled “Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor.” While the report logged 625 incidents in Texas, 333 in Missouri, and 281 in Utah, it recorded more than 1,400 school book bans in Florida for the 2022-23 school year. The bans occur at the school district level in Florida, where local officials are tasked with fielding a flood of complaints from parents and activists. (The tally includes cases of books yanked from classrooms and libraries pending investigation, as well as titles to which student access was restricted.) “Florida isn’t an anomaly — it’s providing a playbook for other states to follow suit,” says Kasey Meehan, PEN America’s Freedom to Read program director and lead author of the report. “Students have been using their voices for months in resisting coordinated efforts to sup- press teaching and learning about certain sto- ries, identities, and histories; it’s time we follow their lead.” The spike in the removal of books — many of which are about race, sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity — comes after the passage of a flurry of new Florida laws such as the Stop WOKE Act, which sought to restrict teaching about systemic racism in schools, and the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” laws, which bar instruction involving gender identity and sexual orientation until ninth grade, extended through high school under a Florida Department of Education rule. While the laws don’t ban specific ti- tles, they’ve opened the door for activists to lodge book chal- lenges across Florida, many of which in- clude complaints that mirror the new regula- tions. Starting last fall, one woman lodged more than 100 challenges to books in Escambia County Public Schools. Fear of tempting the wrath of parents or the Florida Department of Education has left many educators walking on eggshells. The state cur- rently mandates that librarians undergo training to avoid selecting books that violate Florida rules and to “err on the side of caution” when se- lecting materials. The new report notes that the language of Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation has been imitated in other red states like Iowa, where “vagueness and lack of state guidance similarly led school districts to ban books.” (Flor- ida has argued that its initial “Don’t Say Gay” law does not apply to library materials.) The report says that among the 153 school districts across the nation that banned books this past school year, 80 percent have a chapter or local affiliate of one of the self-described “pa- rental rights” groups vying on a national level for book bans, including the Florida-born Moms for Liberty and Parents’ Rights in Education. [email protected] “FLORIDA ISN’T AN ANOMALY — IT’S PROVIDING A PLAYBOOK FOR OTHER STATES TO FOLLOW SUIT.”
