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Innocent Mother Jailed for Three Days Over Mistaken Identity Files Federal Lawsuit Against Florida Police
https://ij.org/press-release/innocent-mother-jailed-for-three-days-over-mistaken-identity-files-federal-lawsuit-against-florida-police/
{Dan King | 19 September 2024}
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Today, an innocent woman who was arrested and jailed for three days in a case of mistaken identity filed a federal lawsuit against Broward County, Florida, and its sheriff’s deputies over her arrest. Jennifer Heath Box, represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ), argues the arrest violated her constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as her right to due process.
In December 2022, Jennifer went on a cruise with family members to celebrate the news that her younger brother, Mark, had beat cancer for the second time. After a fun week aboard the Harmony of the Seas, the cruise ship returned to Port Everglades on the morning of Christmas Eve, giving Jennifer enough time to spend Christmas with her three adult children. But when Jennifer scanned her ID to get off the ship, police surrounded her and told her there was a warrant for her arrest for child endangerment out of Harris County, Texas. While the warrant was for a woman named Jennifer—the most common name for females born in the 1970s—it wasn’t for this Jennifer.
“It was a really scary and confusing experience, because I’ve never had run-ins with law enforcement and I have no criminal record,” said Jennifer. “I couldn’t believe that I could be stopped, arrested, and jailed, just because my name was similar to someone they were looking for.”
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