Tennessee V. Garner Case Analysis

Decent Essays
In the past, when an incident happened, the police were taken at their word that what they said happened was what really happened (Kandy & Fisher & Tate & Jenkins, 2015). Now, we are seeing the world of cell phones. Everyone records their run-ins with the police and posts them online. In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Tennessee v. Garner that police would have to weigh the risks of using deadly force to letting the person go (Flanders & Welling, 2016).

Many states have moved to pass laws that would follow the wording of the Garner case (Flanders & Welling, 2016). In the Garner case, a felon was running away from an officer who had identified himself, and the suspect was shot in the back. Now, police need to judge if it is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the case of Williams vs Florida, Williams argued that his rights had been violated when the State of Florida did not let him use the fifth amendment as a reason to not give the name of witnesses that could corroborate his story as an alibi. He also said that the fact that he was getting a six-man jury rather than a 12-man jury, violated his constitutional rights. The jury ended up convicting him of robbery with a life sentence. His claims of violation of his right to a jury and right to not incriminate himself by providing an alibi, which would in turn give the state the opportunity to find a way to rebut his testimony, were rejected. There were majority and dissenting opinions.…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Carter Court Case Summary

    • 1340 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The mother contended that the probate judge should have dismissed the department’s petition because the department did not have legal custody of her daughter because G.L. c. 119, § 23A was unconstitutional, due to the fact that she was never afforded a hearing, when the department first took custody of her daughter. Id. The court went on to say that, “the fact that a mother is incarcerated, signals a higher likelihood of risk of danger to the welfare of a newborn infant”. 421 N.E. 2d 28, 33. There have been no other constitutional challenges to G.L. c. 119, § 23A. Like this case, our case is not about the unfitness of the appellant; our case is more focused on the long-term health, development, mobility, and education of the child.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson was fought between the state of Texas and Gregory Lee Johnson over a right that Johnson claimed to be protected by the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Texas argued that burning the American flag was not an act protected by the 1st Amendment because it causes great dissent and conflict. Johnson argued that its controversial nature is exactly why it is protected by the 1st Amendment; the 1st Amendment was added to the Constitution specifically to protect one’s unpopular opinion. This court case interested me because I found that I had a hard time deciding whether the state of Texas or Johnson was right; the case intrigued me because it made me think. Five years prior to the case, Johnson participated…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Hendrickson et al defines the problem of police brutality in relation to the maltreatment of a suspect in custody. In 2010, Michael Kingsley was allegedly assaulted by five police officers was held face-down in a holding cell, and then shot with a “stun gun” for a period of vive seconds. After this event, the police left Kingsley to suffer in pain for 15 minutes before providing assistance to the stunned suspect. Kingsley sued the five police officers in court, which defines the context of Kingsley v. Hendrickson et al as a pretext to find reckless disregard in the police officer’s intentions. However, Kinsley lost the court case because he could not prove the “subjective” intent of the officers for intentionally malicious purposes, yet instead, he argued for the “objective” context of his confinement.…

    • 1354 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The case of Gregg v. Georgia starts with a man named Troy Gregg. Troy was imprisoned by the state of Georgia after he was found guilty of armed robbery and murdering two people in 1973. Following Gregg’s trial, the jury found Tory Gregg guilty and sentenced him to death. Troy challenged his remaining death sentence for murder, asked for an appeal, and claimed that his capital sentence was cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the 8th amendment. The Georgia state court ruled that the death penalty was for murder.…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police brutality is one of the most disputed political controversies influencing a diverse range of American citizens in today’s society. In order to find a solution to this widespread debate, many state governments have implemented the use of body cameras on police officers to monitor the behavior between police officers and citizens during potentially controversial situations. In “Why police body cameras would work” , Mark O’Mara demonstrates the direct relationship between the number of body cameras on police officers and the enhanced behavior of citizens and officers. This article was published days after the grand jury decided not to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo over Eric Garner’s death, an incident captured entirely on video. O’Mara published the article on CNN, a credible source of news shown to a large population of people.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Virginia’s state law is forbidding the request of Lee and Burwell Reynolds to allow black juries on their trial. On December 1877, the Reynolds brothers were on trial for killing a white man named, Aaron Shelton. The attorneys of the brothers couldn’t change Judge Treadway’s mind into accepting their request. Until, Alexander Rives, a judge, decided to defend the rights of Lee and Burwell by preventing discrimination towards their race and color. He argued that the Virginia state court has violated the Fourteenth Amendment and the federal Civil Rights Act of 1875.…

    • 1607 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Response To Moral Panic

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    . Moral Panic It is not uncommon for laws to be passed in response to moral panic. A moral panic occurs when events unfold that are seen as a threat to society.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Over the past decade, officer involved violence and occasional killings has been accepted as a rare and necessary happening to protect the general public, but recently the number of these instances have skyrocketed at an alarming rate. Many are beginning to question the intentions of the police, wondering if they’ve taken an unnecessarily brutal and violent twist to their job description. Though many defend current police systems, there has been an obvious rise in on duty shootings ending in severe injury and death of civilians causing a need to mandate harsher consequences for on duty incidents and require body cameras at all times while on duty. Officer involved injuries and killings is an escalating issue all over the nation. Abe Markman…

    • 1279 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Police Body Cameras

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Who Should Have Access to Police Body Camera Footage? Technology is on the rise and so is police brutality, but with one we may be able to remedy the other. Police body cameras have been in use in certain police departments across America since 2012. Ever since the controversial death of Mr. Michael Brown the idea of body cameras has exploded into a legal race for control over videos that don 't yet exist. There are a spectrum of views regarding the public’s access to these videos which the LA Times eloquently sums up in their article “When it comes to police body cameras, the public can 't be kept in the dark.”…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Police Brutality Police brutality has become a major problem in the United States because of the media. This is an issue that is not taken lightly to the people. There are many people that have been affected, personally, by police brutality. This issue has always been present in the United States, but the media has shown light on these issues in the last few years. Due to the media portraying these issues to the public, many questions have been raised on the topic of police brutality.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Issues In Policing

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This topic is one that brings a lot of attention because of what people tend to see, and they are not really educated with the rules of the law. Because of the specific incidents that are publicized, many people feel as if this issue is broader than what it really is. Data indicates that the use of force in a wrongfully way is not a very common event or an increasing problem within the law enforcement. In many cases, a video might be seen on social media showing a police officer using force wrongly to get a person to apply to them. There are debates on whether police are more likely to be rougher to a minority suspect.…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Police Legitimacy

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In today’s society we are captivated by the news and the coverage of crimes. You cannot turn on the television without something horrible occurring and living in a word dedicated to their phones, with access to cameras, everything is posted to social media. The police have it difficult, everywhere they go they must act appropriately and uphold the law set in place for civilians. Police legitimacy is important because it allows everyone to be equal to the law, putting civilians and police on the same level. There have been a variety of cases with police being under fire using excessive force, in other words police brutality.…

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Importance Of Body Cameras

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages

    When the body cameras were first introduced claims of police misconduct dropped significantly. Rhonda Swan states, “ In the first year after Rialto Calif., police started wearing body cameras, the use of force by officers declined almost 60 percent, and citizen complaints against police fell 88 percent.” When police are watched they may feel as though they must be on their best behavior because if they make a unacceptable move, or use excessive force their higher ups will find out. New England College says that there is “ a sense of accountability for both police officers and the citizens they interact with. If encounters are being recorded for future review- and potential evidence both sides are more likely to put on their best behavior, proponents say.”…

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police Discretion Essay

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Since the increased presence of social media, plenty of videos of police have been floating around the web. Most of the videos consist of police brutality or police stepping out of line, and rarely do you see police performing an act of real justice. This does not mean police around the world intend to harm citizens, it simply means that the officers that do take it too far will always be recorded. And the officer that does his job properly will go unnoticed. This is why social media has created a false image for police, because it portrays all officers as corrupt due to a few rotten apples.…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays