Criminal Procedure Essay

Students look up Tennessee v. Garner on the internet and brief the case. What problems do they see with the fleeing felon rule? Do they appreciate that the rule was changed or do they think that officers should be able to shoot any “fleeing felon?” 1. Should the Fourth Amendment apply to the manner of the arrest? Defend your answer 2. Professor H. Richard Uviller, a longtime student of police power and the Constitution, commented on the decision in Tennessee v. Garner: \” It is embarrassing for a law professor to be blindsided in his own territory. But the truth is, I didn\’t see it coming. It had never occurred to me that a police officer shooting to kill a fleeing felon might be engaging in an unconstitutional search and search. Of course, I can see the connection now that it has been explained to me, but I did not spontaneously equate a deadly shot with an arrest. And I have had some prior acquaintance not only with the Fourth Amendment but specifically with the issue of the bullet aimed a the back of a retreating felon. Should shoot a suspect be considered a Fourth Amendment \”seizure\”?\” 3. Criminal Procedure Essay Paper. Professor Univver asks the following questions: Would the rule, in this case, permit an officer to shoot a drunk driver swerving erratically down the road headed toward a town? A person wanted for a series of violent crimes but not presently armed who flees from the police? How would you answer Professor Uviller\’s questions? Defend your answers. 4. Will this rule emboldened criminals? Did the Court tilt the balance too far toward protecting criminal defendants and way from protecting society? Defend your answer.Criminal Procedure Essay Paper

Criminal Procedure

Students look up Tennessee v. Garner (1985) on the internet and brief the case. What problems do they see with the fleeing felon rule? Do they appreciate that the rule was changed or do they think that officers should be able to shoot any “fleeing felon?”

A key problem with the fleeing felon rule is that it warranted the shooting of unarmed suspect by law enforcement authorities. The rule also violated the reasonableness stipulated in the Fourth Amendment since the suspect (Garner) had posed no immediate danger or threat to the police offer and to others, implying the use of deadly force by the officer could not be justified by the harm emerging from inability to arrest the suspect. Indeed, the reasonableness standard has been extensively applied to determine cases where the use of deadly force can be justified as a reasonable seizure, especially when the police have a responsibility of protecting themselves and the public (Library of Congress, p.1).

1.  Should the Fourth Amendment apply to the manner of the arrest? Defend your answer

The application of the Fourth Amendment to the manner of suspect apprehension is based on adoption of the due process and objective reasonableness. Given that the suspect was unarmed at the time of arrest, the Fourth Amendment only allows law enforcement authorities to deploy excessive force to arrest suspects who the police have strong conviction are armed and dangerous to the public and to them(Library of Congress, p.1). Criminal Procedure Essay Paper

2.  Professor H. Richard Uviller, a longtime student of police power and the Constitution, commented on the decision in Tennessee v. Garner:” It is embarrassing for a law professor to be blindsided in his own territory. But the truth is, I didn\’t see it coming. It had never occurred to me that a police officer shooting to kill a fleeing felon might be engaging in an unconstitutional search and search. Of course, I can see the connection now that it has been explained to me, but I did not spontaneously equate a deadly shot with an arrest. And I have had some prior acquaintance not only with the Fourth Amendment but specifically with the issue of the bullet aimed at the back of a retreating felon. Should shoot a suspect be considered a Fourth Amendment “seizure?”

In light of the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness requirement, the arrest of suspected felons through the utilisation of deadly force is considered to be a seizure. Although effective law enforcement calls for utilisation of any means necessary to apprehend criminal suspects from escaping, the deployment of deadly force amounts to an intrusion on the rights of the suspect under the Fourth Amendment. Although shooting dead a felony suspect to prevent escape is argued by the defendants as a fourth amendment seizure, the use of deadly force remains to be constitutionally unreasonable (LoRusso, p.1). Criminal Procedure Essay Paper