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Civil Rights — unreasonable force

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 27, 2014//

Civil Rights — unreasonable force

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 27, 2014//

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U.S. Supreme Court

Civil

Civil Rights — unreasonable force

Where a motorist engaged in a high-speed chase, and intended to resume it, officers did not use unreasonable force in using deadly force.

The officers acted reasonably in using deadly force. A “police officer’s attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent bystanders does not violate the Fourth Amendment, even when it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death.” Scott, supra, at 385. Rickard’s outrageously reckless driving — which lasted more than five minutes, exceeded 100 miles per hour, and included the passing of more than two dozen other motorists — posed a grave public safety risk, and the record conclusively disproves that the chase was over when Rickard’s car came to a temporary standstill and officers began shooting. Under the circumstances when the shots were fired, all that a reasonable officer could have concluded from Rickard’s conduct was that he was intent on resuming his flight, which would again pose a threat to others on the road.

509 Fed. Appx. 388, reversed and remanded.

12-1117 Plumhoff v. Rickard

Alito, J.

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