On October 27, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided Ashley v. Bennett[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to excessive force under the Fourth Amendment. The relevant facts of Ashley are as follows: On January 21, 2020, defendant Bennett was a task force officer assigned to the Carroll County Aggressive Criminal Enforcement ("A.C.E.") Unit.  The A.C.E. Unit is charged with investigating drug and gang related offenses and is a partnership between the Carrollton Police Department, defendant Bennett's employer, and the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. On January 20, 2020, the A.C.E. Unit began investigating a [...]

On October 20, 2022, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Welch v. Dempsey[i], which serves as an excellent review of the law related to retaliatory use of force under the First Amendment. The relevant facts of Welch are as follows: Welch participated in protest activities in downtown Des Moines on the evening of May 30, 2020, in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. At one point, protestors threw rocks at an historic county courthouse and broke glass. Welch was near that scene, recording the events on her cellular phone. The incident in question occurred about thirteen [...]

On October 31, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided the United States v. James[i], which is an excellent review of the law related to frisks of passengers in a vehicle. The relevant facts of James are as follows: Officer Blake Russell, formerly of the Mobile, Alabama Police Department, testified that from 2018 to 2021, he was assigned to a "hot-spot area" in Mobile. On the night of August 14, 2020, Officer Russell pulled over a black Ford Escape for a traffic violation in one of his assigned hot-spot areas. Officer Russell wore a body camera that recorded the [...]

On October 31, 2022, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Christiansen v. Eral[i], which is instructive regarding whether a violation of department policy can establish that an officer violated the constitution. The relevant facts of Christiansen are as follows: [Christiansen] alleges that in June 2019 a police officer in North Sioux City, South Dakota, observed Christiansen's truck leave a casino parking lot in the middle of the night. The officer tried to initiate a traffic stop purportedly for mechanical issues, but Christiansen says that was just a pretext for stopping the truck so he could perform a suspicionless search. [...]

On October 31, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Ramirez v. Martin[i], in which the court of appeals examined whether an officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he shoved a suspect, who was at the moment compliant but moments earlier led the police on a high-speed chase and then failed to follow verbal commands, to the ground causing the suspect to sustain a significant cut above his eye. The relevant facts of the case are as follows: On the night of April 14, 2019, police officers Brad Hanks and Natausha Swavey attempted to pull over Mucio Ramirez for [...]

On September 21, 2022, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Clinton v. Garrett[i], which is instructive regarding when it’s reasonable to stop a car bearing a temporary tag that the officer cannot read.  The relevant facts of Clinton are as follows: On October 3, 2019, Jared Clinton was pulled over by Des Moines Police Department Officers Ryan Garrett, Brian Minnehan, and Ryan Steinkamp riding together in Officer Garrett's marked police vehicle. According to Officers Garrett and Minnehan, as Clinton's vehicle passed the patrol car, Clinton's front-seat passenger sat up quickly from a reclined position, looked at the officers in [...]