GRAHAM V. CONNOR 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
Graham v. Connor 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
The case, Graham v. Connor (1989) was filed by Dethorne Graham, a diabetic, who was seeking reparation for the injuries he sustained when he was accosted by authorities when they were stopped by Officer Connor of the Charlotte Police. On November 12, 1984, Graham had suffered an insulin attack, and had requested his friend, William Berry, to drive him to a nearby convenience store to buy sugar to counter the attack. Once in the convenience store, Graham saw the long queue in the checkout counter, which made him slightly panic as it may affect the severity of his insulin attack. He had hurriedly rushed out of the store and asked his friend to drive him to a friend’s home nearby. At that same moment, Connor saw Graham leave abruptly and thought it was suspicious. He tailed the two and asked them about what he saw in the store, Graham and his friend had said they were rushing to counter the insulin attack Graham was still enduring. Connor was not convinced and held up the two while calling for backup, subsequently causing Graham to pass out in the side walk. When the backup came in, the police cuffed the still ailing Graham forcefully, causing him to get injuries, and was verbally attacked by the police. When Connor cleared the issue with the store, they were released.
Graham, upon filing the case, filed the suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the respondents due to the fact that the officials used excessive force upon apprehending him and his colleague since it had caused him a severe injury in the air and it is a violation to his right as written under the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In their analysis of the facts and in their development of the motion, the District Court considered four factors that would enable present and future cases to determine the severity of the use of force and if it is qualified for § 1983: reason for using force, the amount of force used to sustain the reason for using such action, the severity of injuries acquired, and the intent behind the use of force. With the evidence presented by the respondents, the court saw that the officers’ use of force was “appropriate under the circumstances” as the action taken by the respondents was done in good faith as they thought Graham might have been acting strangely because he was going to attempt a crime due to his actions (Graham, 1986).
Upon its transference to the Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit under case Graham v. City of Charlotte (1987), the panel was divided as to how the case should have been decided upon. For the majority ruling, they believed that the ruling done by the District Court was correct in analyzing if the use of force was excessive or not. The identified four factors utilized by the District Court would also be usable for future cases pertaining to “constitutionally excessive force” cases that may be brought to the court. On the other hand, the dissenting opinion stated that the ruling, which is similar to cases such as Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968) and Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 105 S.Ct. 1964, 85 L.Et.2d. 1 (1985), is invalid in the extent that it should be should be analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s “objective reasonableness” clauses. Under the said amendment, it covers the question on whether the officer’s actions are reasonable given the available facts they had at that instance (Graham v. City of Charlotte, 1987). With the petitioner’s claim on the use of force falls under the Fourth Amendment, the Court of Appeals made an error in analyzing the case as they were analyzing the earlier decision of the District Court. The Court of Appeals returned the case back to the District court for reconsideration and for the court to reevaluate the case under the Fourth Amendment standard (Graham v. Connor, 1989).
References
Graham v. Connor. 490. U.S. 386. (1989). Retrieved from
http://supreme.justia.com/cases/us/490/386/case.htmlGraham v. City of Charlotte. 827 F.2d 945 (4th Cir. 1987). Retrieved from
http://casetext.com/case/graham-v-city-of-charlotte/
