This one has meaning ...

... to me:

A Lenoir City man has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Loudon County sheriff after he said he was mistakenly arrested when deputies mistook his cerebral palsy symptoms for drunkenness.

Gee, I was just up that way, too.

I've been counseled on more than one occasion to have some documentation of my Affliction with me when I drive - either some sort of medical bracelet or paperwork to show. After reading this account, I really need to get on that.

But beyond that, I hope this guy wins his suit. He called the police, and tried to explain his disability to the popo. Instead of researching it, they arrested him, took him to the hospital and had his blood drawn. And after the blood work showed no alcohol, but instead showed cerebral palsy meds, they charged him anyway.

Now, I would guess that if he drives, he's probably got a handicapped tag on his truck. I don't know about TN, but to get my handicapped tag, I had to have my doctor fill out a form certifying that I had a debilitating disease that caused me problems getting around*- I can't imagine it's much different in TN. So the deputies could have called the county clerks office and checked out the tag (GA requires that the form be kept at the clerks' office); if they had, they would have found out that, yeah, the guy did have cerebral palsy.

But they didn't ... and that's the real shame. It was within law enforcements' power to get the truth about the incident, but they didn't. The fact that they arrested and used force to get a blood sample on an innocent man means nothing to them.

As I said before, I hope this guy wins his suit and Loudon Co is out big bucks. And that's one thing gun rights folks should look at. Suing for $10,000 and settling for a couple large ain't gonna convince anyone to change their ways. When a government systematically violates civil rights, we need to sue for a couple of million at least.

That will get their attention.

h/t Injustice News

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*My Affliction only really bothers me when it's hot (like, right now!) - I make a conscious effort to get the closest parking space to the handicapped spaces.