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Tennessee V Garner Case Study

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For the case Tennessee v Garner, it involved 2 Memphis police officers, Elton Hymon and Leslie Wright. The incident actually occurred in 1974 and these two police officers were called to a burglary call. The neighbor next door to the house of the possibly burglary notifies Officers Hymon and Wright that she heard glass breaking and someone was breaking in next door (Brody and Acker, 2010). Officer Wright lets dispatch know himself and Officer Hymon are on the scene; however, Officer Hymon proceeds around the back of the house. As Officer Hymon approaches the rear, he hears a door shut and sees someone running from the area. This individual later identified as Edward Eugene Garner approaches a fence, starts to proceed over it and Officer Hymon …show more content…

In deciding such a suit, the Court has to announce what the constitutional rule is—and so in Gamer’s lawsuit, the Court had to say what amount of force counted as “reasonable” under the Fourth Amendment.* However, deciding the constitutional standard for Garner's civil rights suit did not disturb what the standard had to be for state criminal law prosecutions. States still have the authority to dictate under what circumstances police could justifiably use deadly force, and so avoid punishment under state law (Flanders and Welling, …show more content…

The case of Tennessee v Garner was clearly a case of do not shoot. Even if Officer Hymon felt the suspect would not be apprehended if he did not shoot him, does not justify his actions. Yes, technology was not advanced as it is now but by using any means necessary to apprehend a suspect was extreme for that era.
Similar arguments have persisted to the present day as the public has consistently denounced civilian homicides by police officers. People have accused officers of shooting arbitrarily, or unjustifiably, and most frequently of exhibiting racism in such situations. These accusations have been supported by numerous empirical studies showing that police officers kill African-Americans at a disproportionately higher rate than whites (Tennenbaum,

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Hymon was “reasonably sure” that he did not see a weapon in Garner’s hands. To Hymon Garner appeared to be 17 or 18 years old and about 5’5 to 5’7 feet tall. Hymon began to give verbal commands of “Police,” “halt” as he walked towards Garner because it appeared that he about climbed the fence. Garner disregarded the command and started to rise to elude police. With the belief that Garner would get away if he made it to the other side of the fence, Hymon shot him.

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When they got to the other house they saw the deceased fleeing the scene. The Memphis police officer admitted to seeing no weapon on the deceased, yet he ordered the deceased to stop. The deceased continued to flee, so the officer shot the deceased as the deceased was attempting to hop over a fence. The district court held that the officers act was constitutional. Procedural History:

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On October 3, 1974, Memphis police officers Leslie Wright and Elton Hymon were called to a burglary. Officer Hymon went to the back of the house and saw someone running away. That person running away was 15 year old Edward Garner. Garner approached a chain link fence. He stopped.

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1. Facts: “Tennessee vs. Garner” - the decision of the Supreme Court of the USA in 1985 (471 US (1985), which deals with the application of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution . According to this decision, a police officer pursuing a suspect should not endanger life-saving escape, if the fugitive does not pose a threat to the life and health of others and / or the policeman himself. October 3, 1974 around 22:45 the officers police Memphis Lesli Rayt and Elton Haimon were on call on a burglary. Haimon walked around the house, while Wright maintained contact with the police station with the help of a walkie-talkie.

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Garner case is that officers in question shot and killed an unarmed, non dangerous fleeing suspected felon. This case was brought forth by the victim’s family stating that the victim’s constitutional rights were violated by the actions of these two officers. The question bought into question was is the force used constitutional or unconstitutional. If indeed it was unconstitutional it would mean that the force used was excessive therefore

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In the case of Tennessee v. Garner, there were only two involved, Officer Elton Hymon and Mr. Edward Garner. On the October 3, 1974 Officer Hymon and Wright were sent by dispatch to answer a prowler inside the house call. While Officer

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How do police decide how much force should be used in a situation and how has that changed throughout the year? Has Tennessee v. Garner been effective in protecting individuals against excessive force? Before the case Tennessee v Garner in 1985, how to police decided if they should use deadly force determined by one of four groups; these four groups were The Any-felon Rule; The defense-of-life Rule; The Forcible Felony Rule, and The Model Penal Code. The extreme one was the Any-Felony Rule which was “English common law authorized officers to use any means necessary to arrest felony suspects or prevent them from fleeing. In the United States, courts interpreted this rule as legal permission to shoot an unarmed felony suspect in flight” (Tennenbaum)

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His neighbor appears to be intoxicated and becomes violent when the officer reaches for his handcuffs. He takes a swing at the officer and then attempts his escape. Thirty years prior, the officer would have had the option to draw his weapon and fire or risk a dangerous car chase. Thankfully, he has a Taser gun on his belt. He is able to draw, fire, and apprehend the subject with little effort and no loss of life.

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For decades now, the controversy over deadly force has continued to show up in the news when police officers have acted in a manner that some citizens find just while others deem completely unfair. Many lawsuits stemming from shootings and crimes have found their way to local courts or the Supreme Court to deal with this issue. A portion of the U.S. population finds deadly force unnecessary when non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray or batons just as easily subdue the criminal. In addition, these citizens argue that officers might be liable for cases filed against them if they use excess force on people that seem suspicious but have not actually committed a crime. On the other hand, the opposing argument in favor of deadly force states that

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