Frederick Jackson v. City of Madison

── Frederick Jackson v. City of Madison ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Date: May 28, 2026 Category: General In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-2104 FREDERICK D. JACKSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF MADISON, et al., Defendants-Appellees. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. No. 22-cv-689 — James D. Peterson, Chief Judge. ____________________ ARGUED DECEMBER 4, 2024 — DECIDED MAY 28, 2026 ____________________ Before HAMILTON, JACKSON-AKIWUMI, and PRYOR, Circuit Judges. PRYOR, Circuit Judge. Frederick Jackson appeals the dismis- sal of his constitutional claims, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the City of Madison, Wisconsin and six of its police officers. Officers broke the windows and front door of the home Jackson was occupying and shot him multiple times with non-lethal foam bullets, causing widespread bruising on Jackson’s abdomen and left shoulder. The district court 2 No. 24-2104 concluded that the undisputed facts showed that officers did not violate clearly established law and were therefore entitled to qualified immunity. We agree with the district court and affirm. I. BACKGROUND A. Facts We review a district court’s decision to grant summary judgment de novo. James v. Hale, 959 F.3d 307, 314 (7th Cir. 2020). In so doing, “we must construe the facts in favor of the nonmovant”—here, Jackson—“and may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence.” McCottrell v. White, 933 F.3d 651, 655 (7th Cir. 2019) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986)). A portion of the following statement of facts relies on body camera footage from officers on scene. This evidence was made available to the district court and to us. The incident in question took place on the night of Decem- ber 13, 2019, and early morning of December 14, 2019, in Mad- ison, Wisconsin. Jackson was visiting his then-wife, Sherry, whom he was in the process of divorcing. The house was owned by Sherry. Jackson drank heavily during his visit, prompting Sherry to leave the home and take Jackson’s keys with her. Around 7:35 p.m., Jackson went to his next-door neighbor’s home to ask for a ride, but the neighbor, Tim Mitkos, refused because he had guests over. Jackson left and right afterwards, Mitkos called 911 to report hearing a gun- shot, and that he thought it was possible Jackson had fired a gun. However, Mitkos did not actually see a gun being fired and reported that a car had driven by around the same time. No. 24-2104 3 Around 7:40 p.m., Madison (Wisconsin) Police Depart- ment Sergeant Javier Loredo (and five other officers not named as defendants) were dispatched to the Jackson home based on Mitkos’s report. Loredo and the officers parked down the street. As he got out of his car, Loredo thought he heard gunshots coming from the direction of the Jackson home (though he could not actually see the home). A second officer, Officer Brad Frias, heard a pop from the direction of the Jackson home; he thought it sounded like a gunshot or at least something that warranted more investigation. When he heard the pop, Officer Frias could see the Jackson home: there was a vehicle in the driveway and the garage door was open. A third officer, Officer Max Snyder, also heard what he thought to be a gunshot coming from the Jackson home. A fourth officer at the scene, Officer Justin Cumley, also heard a loud sound, but he thought it sounded more like a hammer hitting an object than a gunshot. As Loredo and the other officers approached the Jackson driveway from a co