Graham Vs. Connor Case Study

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For awhile the findings of the Graham vs. Connor case were accepted and used to consider other cases of excessive force. However a different situation arose in Scott vs. Harris. The story goes that a sheriff, while monitoring traffic on a highway, spotted Victor Harris going past him at seventy-five miles per hour in a fifty-five miles per hour zone. Naturally, the sheriff went after Harris and a high speed chase ensued. Second deputy Scott joined in the chase and finally rammed Harris’ car to stop him. The car went off the road and left Harris seriously injured. Harris is now a quadriplegic and sued the police claiming they used excessive force. There was quite a bit of debate on the issue until the Supreme Court finally ruled that while Harris was left seriously injured, he had been endangering the lives of both cops and any innocent bystanders so Deputy Scott had acted reasonably considering the circumstances. (Harmon 1128-1134).
Both Graham vs. Connor and Scott vs. …show more content…

On November 23, 2004 it was reported that an Officer Juan Ornelas pulled Malaika Brooks over for speeding. When Ornelas approached her, she refused to sign the traffic infraction, so Ornelas asked Brooks to step out of the car. When Brooks still refused Ornelas showed her his taser. Brooks told Ornelas that she was seven months pregnant and he explained different ways he could tase her without harming the baby. Another officer, Jones, joined Ornelas. When Brooks got out of the car she dropped her keys and Jones tased her. Brooks sued the police officers and the case was taken to court where it was realized that while the tasing was not necessary it didn’t directly break the Fourth Amendment. Other similar cases were considered along with Brooks. The truth is that the law was not very clear concerning what could be considered excessive

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