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Graham v. Connor
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Graham v. Connor
Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court determined that an objective reasonableness standard should apply to a civilian's claim that law enforcement officials used excessive force in the course of making an arrest, investigatory stop, or other "seizure" of his or her person.
Chief Justice Rehnquist once again rejected the idea of §1983 as "a source of substantive rights". The Court ruled that excessive force claims in the context of investigatory stops or arrests should be evaluated under the Fourth Amendment's objective standard rather than a substantive due process standard.
The outcome of the case was the creation of an "objective reasonableness test" in examining an officer's actions. That test, over time via case law, would evolve to something that could be summed up as "given the facts known at the time, would a similarly trained and experienced officer respond in a similar fashion."
Dethorne Graham asked a friend to drive him to a convenience store to buy orange juice to counteract an insulin reaction that Graham was experiencing. Graham entered the store but quickly left because the line was too long. He returned to his friend's vehicle, and they then drove away from the store. Connor, a nearby police officer, observed Graham's behavior and became suspicious. Connor then pulled them over for an investigative stop.
Although Graham's friend told police that Graham was simply suffering from a "sugar reaction," the officer ordered Graham to wait while he found out what, if anything, had happened at the convenience store. When Connor returned to his patrol car to call for backup assistance, Graham got out of the car, ran around it twice, and finally sat down on the curb, where he passed out briefly.
In the ensuing confusion, a number of other Charlotte police officers arrived on the scene in response to Connor's request for backup. One of the officers rolled Graham over on the sidewalk, cuffed his hands tightly behind his back, and ignored Graham's friend's pleas to get him some sugar. Eventually, the store confirmed that Graham had not done anything wrong, and he was released.
During the police encounter, Graham suffered a broken foot, cuts on his wrists, a bruised forehead, and an injured shoulder. He filed a federal lawsuit against Officer Connor and other officers and alleged that the officers' use of force during the investigative stop had been excessive and violated Graham's civil rights.
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Henry Friendly, found that the "application of undue force by law enforcement officers deprives a suspect of liberty without due process of law". This followed on the Supreme Court decision Rochin v. California. Judge Friendly's four-part test was applied to most excessive force claims, with most federal courts grounding the right to be free from excessive force in basic principles.
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Graham v. Connor
Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court determined that an objective reasonableness standard should apply to a civilian's claim that law enforcement officials used excessive force in the course of making an arrest, investigatory stop, or other "seizure" of his or her person.
Chief Justice Rehnquist once again rejected the idea of §1983 as "a source of substantive rights". The Court ruled that excessive force claims in the context of investigatory stops or arrests should be evaluated under the Fourth Amendment's objective standard rather than a substantive due process standard.
The outcome of the case was the creation of an "objective reasonableness test" in examining an officer's actions. That test, over time via case law, would evolve to something that could be summed up as "given the facts known at the time, would a similarly trained and experienced officer respond in a similar fashion."
Dethorne Graham asked a friend to drive him to a convenience store to buy orange juice to counteract an insulin reaction that Graham was experiencing. Graham entered the store but quickly left because the line was too long. He returned to his friend's vehicle, and they then drove away from the store. Connor, a nearby police officer, observed Graham's behavior and became suspicious. Connor then pulled them over for an investigative stop.
Although Graham's friend told police that Graham was simply suffering from a "sugar reaction," the officer ordered Graham to wait while he found out what, if anything, had happened at the convenience store. When Connor returned to his patrol car to call for backup assistance, Graham got out of the car, ran around it twice, and finally sat down on the curb, where he passed out briefly.
In the ensuing confusion, a number of other Charlotte police officers arrived on the scene in response to Connor's request for backup. One of the officers rolled Graham over on the sidewalk, cuffed his hands tightly behind his back, and ignored Graham's friend's pleas to get him some sugar. Eventually, the store confirmed that Graham had not done anything wrong, and he was released.
During the police encounter, Graham suffered a broken foot, cuts on his wrists, a bruised forehead, and an injured shoulder. He filed a federal lawsuit against Officer Connor and other officers and alleged that the officers' use of force during the investigative stop had been excessive and violated Graham's civil rights.
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Henry Friendly, found that the "application of undue force by law enforcement officers deprives a suspect of liberty without due process of law". This followed on the Supreme Court decision Rochin v. California. Judge Friendly's four-part test was applied to most excessive force claims, with most federal courts grounding the right to be free from excessive force in basic principles.