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Graham Vs. Connor : Facts And Circumstances

Decent Essays

Jaspreet S Bhangu
0697699
Criminology 12
MW- 12:00pm
Graham vs Connor

Facts and Circumstances: Graham (petitioner) was a diabetic person who was traveling with a friend to a convenience store to get orange juice to counteract his insulin reaction Graham entered the store but quickly left after seeing that many people were already waiting in line. Connor, who was a nearby police officer, observed Graham’s behavior and become suspicious. Graham’s behavior made officer suspicious. Graham returned to his friend’s car and they drove off, but Connor immediately pulled them over for an investigative stop (to determine what they were doing at the store). After questioning, Connor put Graham in handcuffs. Once Connor confirmed that nothing had …show more content…

The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court, endorsing this test as generally applicable to all claims of constitutionally excessive force brought against government officials, rejecting Graham’s argument that it was error to require him to prove that the allegedly excessive force was applied maliciously and sadistically to cause harm, and holding that a reasonable jury applying the Johnson v. Glick test to his evidence could not find that the force applied was constitutionally excessive.
Ruling:
At final, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded the lower court’s ruling. The Court said that all claims that law enforcement officials have used excessive force whether deadly or not in the course of an arrest, investigatory stop or any other seizure of a citizen are properly analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness standard, rather than the under a substantive due process. The court also stated that a seizure occurs when a law enforcment officer terminates a free citizen’s movement by a means interntionally applied. An officer may sieze a person in many ways including: traffic stops, investigative detentions, and arrests are all seizures under the 4th amendmet. To seize a person, an officer may yell, “stop”, handcuff, a baton, or a firearm can be used to comply the subject with officer orders.

Relevance:
The

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