REUBEN JELANI ADAMS (22-cv-00241); ROBERT JUTAHN MCCLAIN, (5:22-cv-00242); ANDRU JACKSON PHILLIPS (5:22-cv-00243); DEVITO CYN’CER TISDALE (5:22-cv-00244); JOEL DANDRE WILLIAMS (5:22-cv- 00245) v. LEXINGTON-FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT; CORY B. VINLOVE, DONNELL GORDON, and LAWRENCE WEATHERS, Lexington Police Officers, in their individual capacities - Articles

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REUBEN JELANI ADAMS (22-cv-00241); ROBERT JUTAHN MCCLAIN, (5:22-cv-00242); ANDRU JACKSON PHILLIPS (5:22-cv-00243); DEVITO CYN’CER TISDALE (5:22-cv-00244); JOEL DANDRE WILLIAMS (5:22-cv- 00245) v. LEXINGTON-FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT; CORY B. VINLOVE, DONNELL GORDON, and LAWRENCE WEATHERS, Lexington Police Officers, in their individual capacities

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Oct 10, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Amy Robinson Staples, LOEVY & LOEVY, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellants.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Jason P. Renzelmann, FROST BROWN TODD LLP, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Amy Robinson Staples, Elliot Slosar, LOEVY & LOEVY, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellants.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Jason P. Renzelmann, FROST BROWN TODD LLP, Louisville, Kentucky, Medrith Lee Norman, FROST BROWN TODD LLP, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellees.

Judge(s): BATCHELDER, GIBBONS, and BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Lexington

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs are five football players at the University of Kentucky (“UK”) who were subject to racial taunts and physical violence at a fraternity-sponsored party. Yet after the altercation, defendant Detective Cory Vinlove, a Lexington police officer, initiated criminal charges against plaintiffs. A grand jury eventually refused to indict plaintiffs but, by then, news of the investigation had already hurt plaintiffs’ reputations and careers. After being cleared of wrongdoing, plaintiffs sued Vinlove, Sergeant Donnell Gordon, Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers, and Lexington-Fayette County Urban Government (“LFCUG”), asserting various federal and state-law claims. Defendants moved to dismiss all claims except a state malicious prosecution claim. The district court granted the motion, reasoning that as damaging as defendants’ actions were, they were not deprivations of liberty under the Fourth Amendment as required for the federal claims. The district court also dismissed plaintiffs’ state-law claims, finding that the alleged facts failed to state a claim under state law. We now affirm the district court.

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