Tennessee V Garner Research Paper

471 U.S. 1,105 S. Ct. 1694, 85 L. Ed. 2d 1,1985 U.S.
The facts in this case that upon arrival at the location of a suspected burglary, the officers saw the victim fleeing the scene. The officers called out to the victim to stop and saw he was unarmed. As the victim was climbing a wall to escape, an officer shot him in the back causing his death. The officer was acting within Tennessee statutory and used all necessary means to effect the arrest. The higher court held the Tennessee statute to be unconstitutional in that it authorized the use of deadly force against a fleeing suspect who appeared not to be a danger to the officers or others
710 F.2d 240, affirmed and remanded.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BRENNANM, MARSHALL, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and STEVENS, JJ., joined. O’CONNOR, J., filed a dissent, in which BURGER, C.J., and RHNQUIST, J., joined.
The majority held that under the Fourth Amendment, it was only constitutionally reasonable to use deadly force in those situations wherein the officers had good cause to believe that the suspect posed a significant of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. The dissent examined the violent crime rates affiliated with home burglaries and argued that the majority ruling created the right of the suspect to flee from the scene of a felony burglary unimpeded if a police officer ordered the suspect to halt but had no means short of firing his weapon to prevent the escape. The dissent further discussed the broad implications of what might constitute lethal actions in future cases and felt the majority decision did not clearly the appropriate parameters of reasonable force.
The discussion of this 1974 incident and 1985 decision included consideration for changing community values. In light of the intervening decades and those of the early 21st century it is obvious that community values have undergone vast changes since 1974 and 1985. American society is moving further and further from any Common Law or Statutory Law that authorizes the use of deadly force in any situation in which there is a doubt that the suspect is armed and dangerous.