Qualified Immunity

Ministerial Versus Discretionary and How They Affect Qualified Immunity

Browning v. Edmonson County, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 34090 (6th Cir. KY Nov. 17, 2021) Today’s case from the Sixth Circuit involves a high-speed car chase, a potentially armed suspect, and use of force. This case highlights some terminology that I would like to discuss: discretionary acts or ministerial duties. These terms come into play when minors are present during an event. Our case

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Let Go of the Car: Qualified Immunity Granted after an Escalated Traffic Stop

Today’s case is a reminder of how careful you need to be when conducting a traffic stop. The situation we will discuss today started off as a regular stop with the suspect remaining cooperative, until things took a sharp turn for the worst. Our case today is another use of force case, so let’s review Graham v. Connor. In Graham v. Connor, the Supreme Court

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Qualified Immunity and the Three Factors of Force: Estate of Taylor v. Salt Lake City

Our case today, from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, outlines qualified immunity and excessive use of force. Before we get into the details of the case, a recap of qualified immunity when it is weighed against alleged excessive force: the plaintiff must establish that the officer’s use of force was objectively unreasonable. When examining reasonableness, the court evaluates the

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SCOTUS: Qualified Immunity, Continued

In the second of two SCOTUS opinions released on the subject of qualified immunity, the Court overturned a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. The Tenth Circuit Court relied on case law that “allows an officer to be held liable for a shooting that itself is objectively reasonable if the officer’s reckless or deliberate conduct created a situation requiring deadly force.1” SCOTUS emphatically stated,

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SCOTUS: Qualified Immunity

On October 18, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued two per curiam decisions on the topic of qualified immunity. Per curiam (“by the court”) opinions refer to a decision made on behalf of the entire court without a particular judge or justice’s name attached to the opinion. These decisions tend to be short and to the point, as they usually concern issues that the court does not consider to be controversial or require extensive debate. It

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A Refresher on Tasers – Tenth Circuit

In Emmett v. Armstrong, we travel over to the Tenth Circuit to examine a taser and UOF case. This case is from 2020, but raises some important use of force topics regarding tasers and qualified immunity.  To begin, a review of Electronic Control Weapon guidelines from IACP. According to the IACP, the ECW is authorized to be used:   to protect the officer or others from reasonably perceived immediate threat of physical

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Mental Health, Qualified Immunity and the Luxury of Time

Today’s update focuses on a fatal use of force incident out of the 5th Circuit. Our case will review a few hot topics, including qualified immunity, mental health and use of force. To help further understand the court’s decision we have also included a link to the full video from the dashboard camera that the 5th Circuit Court of appeals strongly leaned on when deciding the outcome of

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Video, Use of Force, and Qualified Immunity

Dashcams and body-worn cameras can be both a blessing and a curse for law enforcement. They allow for the court system to view an incident in real time, but they sometimes cloud perception and make it difficult to not view an incident with 20/20 hindsight. In Cunningham v. Shelby County[i] Deputies Paschal and Wiggins appealed a case through the Sixth Circuit Court. Paschal and Wiggins were

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UOF Following a Pursuit and Plaintiff Safety – Third Circuit

Our case today comes to us from the Third Circuit and involves both qualified immunity and alleged excessive force. The facts of this case get a little hectic and in order to fully understand the court’s decision it is important to review how an officer is entitled to qualified immunity. When deciding if an officer is entitled to qualified immunity the officer’s actions must not violate a

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