Estate of Te’Juan Johnson v. Amanda Rakes

In 2019, Officer Te’Juan Johnson and his partner responded to a 911 call reporting that Amylyn Slaymaker’s husband was assaulting her. Despite knowing of the husband’s access to firearms, history of violence, and suicidal behavior, Johnson falsely told Ms. Slaymaker that her husband would be detained for 24 hours when Johnson knew the husband would not be. That duplicity led Ms. Slaymaker to believe it was safe to go home, where her husband killed her. Alongside civil rights attorney Laura Landenwich of Adams Landenwich Lay, PLLC, the MacArthur Justice Center is fighting for those who are put in danger by police misconduct.

In 2019, Officers Te’Juan Johnson and Jonathan Roederer responded to a 911 call reporting that Ms. Slaymaker’s husband attacked her and threatened to kill her ex-husband. Johnson spoke with Ms. Slaymaker’s husband and reached an agreement for him to voluntarily check himself into a hospital, with the understanding that the husband would be free to leave at any time. Indeed, Johnson promised that he would not reveal to the hospital any of the husband’s violent and suicidal behavior, so as not to trigger a mental health hold, and told him specifically that “you don’t have to stay in there.”

Despite knowing that Ms. Slaymaker’s husband would be free to leave at any time, Johnson then told Ms. Slaymaker repeatedly that he would be detained for 24 hours. Johnson knew that there were automatic rifles at the Slaymakers’ home, that the husband had a history of abuse and violence against Ms. Slaymaker, and that Ms. Slaymaker feared for her safety that night. Nevertheless, Johnson led Ms. Slaymaker to believe it was safe to go home for the night. When she did, her husband found her there and killed her. Before he killed himself, he sent his mother a text: “I’m not going to prison. Amylyn is dead. And so am I.”

In 2021, Amanda Rakes, the administrator of Ms. Slaymaker’s estate, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 42 U.S.C. § 1985. The district court granted summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds.

In 2024, the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court’s decision as to Johnson. The Seventh Circuit agreed that Johnson’s affirmative misconduct put Amylyn in danger and violated clearly established law. As Judge Scudder explained, Johnson’s duplicity created a “risk Amylyn would [not] have faced had she known [her husband] was free to leave the hospital at a time of his own choosing.” By putting Ms. Slaymaker in danger and causing her to lose her life, Johnson violated the Due Process Clause.

When Johnson petitioned for certiorari, the MacArthur Justice Center teamed up with civil rights attorney Laura Landenwich to file a brief in opposition, urging the Supreme Court to deny review. We countered Johnson’s efforts to gin up a circuit split designed to entice the Court to review, and demonstrated that Johnson’s affirmative misrepresentations violated well-settled Due Process precedents in federal circuit courts across the country. Despite the petition receiving attention as a “Featured Petition” on SCOTUSBlog, we succeeded in defeating certiorari on October 6, 2025, following the Court’s Long Conference.