Primal-Libertarian

Geoffrey Asher just returned home from buying auto parts, and after coming out of a shed where he stored the parts, a sheriff’s deputy was pointing a gun at him.

He didn’t know the deputy had followed him for speeding, and officers didn’t have the right to arrest him, then break into his home to search for evidence of crimes they had no reason to believe he even committed.

That’s what a federal jury decided this month when they awarded the Lumpkin County man $58,000 in a civil rights lawsuit.

“The damages included $45,000 in punitive awards, which is almost unheard of in a civil rights case involving law enforcement officers,” said Athens attorney Matt Karzen, who represented Asher.

“It was a loud and clear message from the jury that what happened to my client was a gross violation of his rights,” he said….