In 1985, the Supreme Court decided that a police officer's use of a level of force that the Court deemed excessive--despite being authorized by state law and consistent with a rule going back to the common law and widely adopted by the states--was an "unreasonable seizure" in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The case was Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1. Under that case and its progeny, before a federal court can get into the question of how much force is "reasonable" it must first find a "seizure."
In a nutshell, a person is seized if either (1) he is physically stopped by the police action, or (2) he stops in obedience to the police show of authority. CJLF last briefed this issue in the Eighth Circuit case of Johnson v. Ferguson. See our brief and the post on the decision.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court took up a case presenting this issue, Torres v. Madrid, No. 19-292.
Continue reading Supreme Court Takes Excessive Force/Seizure Case.