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What Constitutional standard governs free citizens’ excessive-force claims?
•Court balances individual’s 4th-Am. interests against Govt’s interests under the "reasonableness" standard
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Courts determine reasonableness by
•Balancing nature and quality of intrusion on individual's 4th–Am. right to be free from unreasonable seizure.
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The reasonableness standard is
an objective balancing test, measuring the actual need for force (The Gov’t Interest) against the force used (п’s 4th-Am. Interest).
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The Government’s interests are measured by such factors as:
- •Does subject pose an imminent threat to officer’s or someone else’s safety?
- •Is subject actively resisting arrest or attempting to flee?
- •How severe is the crime at issue?
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Force Decision: Threat
the most weighty of the Graham factors. The more imminently dangerous the threat is, the greater the degree of force that may be justified in countering it.
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Force Decision: Crime Severity
The more violent the crime that the suspect is believed to have committed, the greater the degree of force that may be reasonably used to apprehend the suspect
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Force Decision: Resistance of Flight
The more violently a suspect resists arrest, the greater the degree of force that may be reasonably used to counter the suspect’s resistance
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Graham V. Connor; Ultimate Question
whether officers’ actions are objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them.
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Standard of objective reasonableness
- -Judged from perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene
- -Officer’s subjective intentions are irrelevant (At the moment force is applied)
- -No 20/20-vision hindsight will be applied
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Governmental Interest Factors
(1)Threat
(2)Crime Severity
(3) Level of Resistance
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Can you use deadly force against a fleeing felon to prevent his escape?
- •Yes... if you’ve got PC to believe fleeing felon poses a threat of serious physical harm to you or others.
- •Yes... If the suspect threatens you with a weapon likely to inflict serious bodily injury or death.
- •Yes... if you’ve got PC to believe suspect has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm.
- •And... if, where feasible, some warning has been given.
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The 4th Amendment guarantees:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons … against unreasonable … seizures ...”
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Brendlin v. Calif., 551 U.S. 249 (2007)
4thAm. “seizure” occurs where LEO, by means of physical force or show of authority, restrains person’s freedom of movement through means intentionally applied
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Non-Seizure Example: Cnty. of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833 (1998)
•No seizure where police car unintentionally hit passenger who’d fallen from fleeing motorcycle during chase.
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