The question
Whether a First Amendment retaliatory-arrest plaintiff must produce specific evidence of otherwise-similar people who were not arrested to fit the exception recognized in Nieves v. Bartlett.
Gonzalez v. Trevino
What the Court decided
The Court held that the Fifth Circuit read the Nieves exception too narrowly. A plaintiff claiming she was arrested in retaliation for protected speech need not produce a specific comparator, a near-identical person who was not arrested; other objective evidence can suffice. The case was sent back to apply that broader standard.
How the justices split
UnanimousPer curiam (unsigned)
Delivered by the Court
The Nieves exception, which lets a retaliatory-arrest plaintiff proceed despite probable cause, requires only objective evidence that she was treated differently from others who were not engaged in protected speech. It does not demand a specific comparator. The Fifth Circuit erred by requiring one.
How we know · 2 sourced claims
The Court held the Fifth Circuit took an overly narrow view of the Nieves retaliatory-arrest exception.
Source: syllabus, Held, at 22-1025
A plaintiff need not produce a specific comparator; other objective evidence can suffice.
Source: opinion (per curiam)