United States Supreme Court

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that the officers used excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments when they shot the driver of a fleeing vehicle to put an end to a dangerous car chase, the Sixth Circuit erred in concluding that defendant-officers were not entitled to qualified immunity, where: 1) the Sixth Circuit properly exercised jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. section 1291, which gives courts of appeals jurisdiction to hear appeals from "final decisions" of the district court, and the general rule that an order denying a summary judgment motion is not a "final decision," and thus not immediately appealable, does not apply when it is based on a qualified immunity claim; 2) defendant-officers' conduct did not violate the Fourth Amendment; and 3) even if defendant-officers' conduct had violated the Fourth Amendment, defendants would still be entitled to summary judgment based on qualified immunity because plaintiff points to no cases that could be said to have clearly established the unconstitutionality of using lethal force to end a high-speed car chase.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/27/2014
• Published 05/27/2014

Judges

• ALITO

Court

• United States Supreme Court

Counsel