A woman from New Jersey arrested by mistake and jailed for two weeks

New Jersey: A federal appellate court decided that a lady from New Jersey who had been wrongfully incarcerated for two weeks had served her sentence due to someone else’s parole violation, and that person was obviously shielded from accountability under the constitution. New Jersey native Judith Maureen Henry is named after another lady who, in the 1990s, entered a plea deal for cocaine possession and broke her parole in Pennsylvania. 2019 saw Henry’s history finally catch up with her, landing her in Essex County jail in Newark.

Henry intended to sue the concerned US marshals, but he is unable to do so because of qualified immunity—a legal shield that exempts law enforcement personnel from accountability—which was provided to them by the Fourth Amendment. According to Judge Thomas Ambro of the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals, “their arrest of Henry relying on information attached to the warrant was a reasonable mistake, and therefore her arrest did not violate the Fourth Amendment,” the New Jersey Monitor was able to receive the ruling.

Henry requested the marshals to check her fingerprints with the ones they had on file for the true perpetrator, telling them on multiple occasions that she was not the person they were looking for. Henry spent two weeks in jail in Newark then was sent to Pennsylvania while no one checked. In Henry’s now-withdrawn case, there were roughly thirty other named police enforcement personnel and government officials from Pennsylvania and New Jersey listed as defendants.  The marshals who assisted in her arrest were not included in this.

Henry intended to sue the participating U.S. marshals, but he is unable to do so because of qualified immunity—a legal barrier that exempts law enforcement personnel from accountability—which was provided to them by the Fourth Amendment. Henry intended to sue the concerned US marshals, but he is unable to do so because of qualified immunity—a legal shield that exempts law enforcement personnel from accountability—which was provided to them by the Fourth Amendment. She leveled accusations against each of them, including procedural abuse, wrongful arrest and incarceration, purposeful infliction of mental distress, inadequate supervision and training, and conspiracy.

Ambro also dismissed Henry’s attempt to claim that her detention was the result of prejudice against her race and lower socioeconomic standing. Henry is a black Jamaican woman.