Case brief summary
The Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, limits when police can use deadly force to stop someone from escaping.
Facts
A Memphis officer shot and killed an unarmed 15 year old boy fleeing a burglary, following a Tennessee law allowing any force needed to stop a fleeing suspect. The boy had stolen only ten dollars and a purse.
Procedural history
The boy's father sued the officer and city for violating his son's rights. Lower courts ruled back and forth, and an appeals court finally found the shooting unconstitutional, bringing the case to the Supreme Court.
Issue
Does it violate the Fourth Amendment for police to use deadly force to stop an apparently unarmed, non dangerous suspect from escaping?
Holding
Police cannot use deadly force on a fleeing suspect unless it's needed to stop escape and the officer reasonably believes the suspect threatens serious harm or death to others.
Reasoning
The Court balanced the suspect's right to life against the need to catch fleeing suspects, concluding that killing a non-dangerous suspect goes too far. Old rules allowing deadly force made sense historically but no longer fit modern policing.
Opinions
Majority (White): Deadly force to stop a fleeing suspect is only allowed when the suspect poses a real threat of death or serious injury, and this unarmed, non dangerous suspect posed no such threat.
Dissent (O'Connor): The officer reasonably used deadly force as a last resort against a fleeing nighttime burglary suspect, and burglary is dangerous enough to justify that response.