Tennessee vs Garner( Gillenwater, 2015) was a pivotal case for the state of Tennessee and police department procedures for the use of deadly force in apprehending suspects. On October 3, 1974 Gillenwater,2015) , there was a call of a prowler. The caller stated that her neighbor was out of town and that she heard noises and thrashing about in the home. Officers Hyman and Wright arrived at the neighbors home, while Officer Wright was speaking to the neighbor, Officer Hyman went to the back of the house to investigate. It was at that time a young black male, thought to be between 17 and 19 years of age ran from the house.While instructing the suspect to stop, he stopped at a approximate 6 foot fence at the back of the yard, crouched down. The officer instructed him to halt, however, he did not and attempted to jump the fence. Officer Hyman at that time fired what he thought was going to be a warning shot toward the suspect. The shot hit the suspect in the back of the head, he later died from his injuries ( Gillenwater, 2015). At this time, the officer was acting in accordance to procedure and Tennessee law. At that time Tennessee law in 1974 justified and authorized all deadly force to stop a felony suspect ( GIllenwater, 2015). The suspect, Edward Garner, was discovered to be 15 years of age, and unarmed ( Gillenwater, 2015). The father sued the Memphis police department. This was presented to the U.S. Supreme Court and it was …show more content…
References: Gillenwater, A. ( 2015, April 26) [ TNVGARNER1103]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_bv95gxFfU Williams, C.R., & Arrigo, B.A. (2012). Ethics, Crime and criminal justice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Tennenbaum, A. N. (1994). The Influence of the" Garner" Decision on Police Use of Deadly Force. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology,
The case of Tennessee vs Reeves talks about two youngsters named Tracie Reeves and Molly Coffman who were students at the West Carrol Middle School who were planning to kill their teacher, Janice Geiger (Hall 2014; Schmalleger, 2014). They had planned to poison the teacher with rat poison by putting it in the teacher’s drink (Hall 2014; Schmalleger, 2014). There were other students who had found out, and the plot had been reported to the teacher and principal of the school (Hall 2014; Schmalleger, 2014). The students were convicted of attempt to commit secondary degree murder based on the fact that the poison was brought to the school and if it wasn’t because the plot to killed Miss. Geiger was interrupted the crime would have taken place.
Seigal, L. J., & Worrall, J. L. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
On March 12, 2012 Bill Lee, the Chief of Police for Sanford Florida, explained Zimmerman had not been arrested because the police found no evidence to refute Zimmerman’s self-defense claim (Timeline of events: Trayvon Martin shooting case). Then the media decided to bully the state of Florida into bringing Florida by influencing public opinion. One of the ways the media achieved this was by making it seem like the reason there was no evidence to refute Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense, and Zimmerman’s eventual acquittal, was because of the controversial law in several states, including Florida, known as “Stand-Your Ground.”
"The West Memphis Three Trial: Who was the real killer or killers?." The West Memphis Three
Waterman v. Batton, 393 F 3.d 471, 478. (4th Cir. 2005). One of the defendant officers observed the plaintiff traveling 51 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone and immediately initiated pursuit. The officer in pursuit radioed his fellow officers at a toll plaza ahead of the suspect car, and the officers at the toll plaza prepared “stop sticks” at the tollbooth. Following the communication between the officers, the pursuing car radioed that the plaintiff “tried to run [him] off the road,” and moments later the pursuing car and plaintiff reached the toll area. When the plaintiff approached the officers stationed at the toll plaza, he slowed down and then “lurched” forward. Although none of the officers at the toll area were in the direct way of the plaintiff’s car, the officers perceived the “lurching” as an attempt to injure them and the officers fired into the car as a result of the perceived threat, and continued to do so as the car passed through the toll plaza. The court held that the shots fired as the car approached the toll booth did not constitute excessive violence because the plaintiff did not stop despite the warnings of officers with their guns drawn, and because the an objectively reasonable officer in
A review of the Prima Facia duties or conditional duties which should be followed in most instances, however, “can be overridden by other duties that are more imperative in a given instance” (Williams and Arriog, 2012) points to options that Officer Hymon could have taken in reviewing his actions in this case. Ross states that the duties of Fidelity “include the duties which stem from our own previous promise, contracts, or other agreements”, (Williams, 2012). In applying this to the Tennessee v. Garner case, there are several instances where the officer’s decision to shoot and those of the judicial system failed the victim.
Oscar Grant was reported to be rowdy on the train and was shot at point-blank range. The policeman later revealed he was trying to grab his Taser not his handgun. While reading this review, the author was using present day situations such as the Zimmerman case to reflect on how two different cases can be the same but in different standpoints. Trayvon’s incident was not recorded, but Zimmerman was reported to be running behind an unarmed suspected to have a gun. The author wanted to say that cases are similar considering that both officers were not prosecuted. A better example he could have used was the Walter Scott shooting. Both men were believed to be causing a disturbance, the policeman was trying to grab their Tasers, and someone was
In 2014, the death of Eric Garner in New York City raised controversial conversations and highlighted the issues of race, crime, and policing in neighborhoods that tend to be poor and racially isolated. Garner, an unarmed black man, was killed after being tackled and held in a “chokehold.” According to the AP Polls in December 2014, “Police killings of unarmed blacks were the most important news stories of 2014.” The problem is that young black men are targeted by police officers in which they have responded with the misuse of force and policy brutality. It is evident that this issue affects many people nationwide. The civilians do not trust the police department and the justice system because they hold the perceptions that police officers are immune from prosecution despite their actions. In particular, black individuals, specifically black males, do not feel safe in the presence of police officers because they are not held accountable for their mistakes.
An effect following the murder of Trayvon Martin is the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore, Maryland. Freddie Gray was apprehended by police during a bike patrol on the day of April 12, 2015. When a very violent arrest left Freddie Gray unable to walk on his own. On the way to downtown Baltimore, Freddie was left with no seatbelt in the van which was transporting him. This caused him to be thrown around the van with no help of witnessing policeman. In this trial six officers were involved and so far only three were tried but none of these officers were convicted. Many crimes like this has happened hundreds of times throughout the United States and they almost always end up the same way with no justice for the victims and guilty men walking away with no punishment or consequences for their actions. Many families of the victims are left in debt from the hiring of lawyers and attorneys to receive no justice for their loved one. Nearly 1 in 3 black people killed by police in 2015 were identified as unarmed, though the actual number is likely higher due to
The “Stand Your Ground” law was first adopted in the state of florida in 2005. This law did not gain national attention until the shooting death of unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford, florida, where the shooter, George Zimmerman used the “Stand Your Ground” law as his basis for defending himself against Trayvon Martin to the Sanford Police Department. However, George Zimmerman’s legal defense team did not utilize the law to argue his innocence during his trial. But the damage had been done because soon after other cases in florida began to sprout up with “Stand Your Ground” as the driving force.
Wallace, B. N. (2009). You decide! Current debates in criminal justice. (p. 152) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
The colored man suffered eight bullet impacts behind his back as he tried to run from the officer. Fortunately a man who was coming from work observed the struggle of the two men and decided to film the scene with his cell phone. The officer stated that the colored man tried to grab his tazer and that after the shots have been fired that he tried to revive the shot man with CPR. The officer’s testimony has been proved wrong with the evidence that the video shows. The video has led to the arrest of the police officer and the exculpation from his title. Many people ask themselves “what if the video never existed. Would have the poor man died
The necessity standard that White proposes for governing the use of lethal force strikes the right balance in regulating violence. He insists that the police act reasonably by evaluating whether the felon's interest in life outweighs the state's interest in seizing the felon by lethal force. Because we honor the supreme value of human life, lethal force should only be used when there is a reasonable belief that the felon poses a significant threat to the policeman or society.
Pollock, J.M. (2012). Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice (7th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Williams, C. R., & Arrigo, B. A. (2012). Ethics, crime, and criminal justice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.