4th Circuit Establishes Bright Line for when Tazer Use is Reasonable (Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 20, 2016)

315 E Jones St. Raleigh, NC 27601 Edelstein & Payne Personal Injury Attorneys at Law Steven R Edelstein M. Travis Payne


https://edelsteinpayne.com

4th Circuit Establishes Bright Line for when Tazer Use is Reasonable

Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 20, 2016 (0 Comments)
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has made an important ruling regarding use of force, ruling that the use of a Tazer is only lawful when the person tazed poses "an immediate safety risk." Unfortunately for the plaintiff in the case, mentally-ill Ronald Armstrong, he died during the encounter that led to the lawsuit, and the court ruled that the officers who tazed him five times to get him to let go of a stop sign were immune because the law regarding use of tazers was not clearly established at the time. Fortunately, for the rest of us, it is now clearly established that law enforcement officers may not taze people absent an immediate safety risk. Absent such a risk, an officer using a tazer is using excessive force in violation of an individual's civil rights and may be liable. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Felony Larceny by Removing Anti-Shoplifting Device (Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Feb 12, 2016)

2015 Federal Employment Law Update Published (Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jun 19, 2015)

Home Healthcare Workers are Entitled to Overtime Pay (Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jul 06, 2016)