COURT CASES

COURT CASES



1. Graham v. Connor 1989 — This is the essential use of force rubric in the country.
2. Tennessee v. Garner — Addresses deadly force to prevent escape.
3. Terry v. Ohio — Established the legality of so-called “Stop & Frisk” searches.
4. Plakas v. Drinski  — No constitutional duty to use lesser force when deadly force is authorized.  
5. Pena v. Leombruni 1999 — Addresses suspect’s known mental state regarding force.
6. Thompson v. Hubbard 2001 — Case where suspect appeared to be drawing a gun and no gun found.
7. Smith v. Freland 2000 — Examined policy violation but no violation of Constitutional law.
8. Bush v. City of Tallahassee — Addresses excessive force applied through Graham.
9. Green v. N.J. State Police — Addresses excessive force applied through Graham.
10. Forrett v. Richardson 1997 — Unarmed fleeing felon applied through Tennessee v. Garner.
11. Elliot v. Leavitt 1997 — Addresses 20/20 hindsight on officer shooting.  
12. Brown v. United States — The original (1921) Graham v. Connor style decision.
13. Wardlaw v. Pickett 1993 — Punching an approaching verbally argumentative person.
14. City of Canton v. Harris — Addresses liability and “failure to train.”
15. Powpow v. Margate — Addresses shooting an innocent person (training). 
16. Scott v. Henrich 1994 - Addresses seizure, probable cause and deadly force.
17. Brower v. County of Inyo 1989 Did a reasonable non-deadly alternative exist for apprehending the suspect?
18. Kinney v. Indiana 1991 - public interest in preventing dangerous individuals from escaping into the community
19. Menuel v. City of Atlanta 1994 Addresses a potential arrestee who is neither physically subdued nor compliantly yielding.
20. Quintanilla v. City of Downey 1996 - Use of a trained police dog use of force
21. Mullenix v. Luna 2015 - Addressing qualified immunity

1-15 Provided by: Paul Marik
Article: The True North of Policing
URL Source: PoliceOne.com
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