Tennessee Vs Garner Case Study

The case of Tennessee v. Garner was brought to the Supreme Court in 1985. The overview is as follows. One unspecified day in 1984 at approximately 22:45 Memphis Tennessee police were dispatched to answer a “prowler inside call”. Upon arrival on scene they saw a woman standing on her porch and motioning toward an adjacent house. The woman stated she had heard glass breaking and that someone was breaking and entering the house. Officers heard a door slam and saw the suspect running across the backyard. Garner stopped at a chain link fence. With the aid of a flashlight cops saw no sign of a weapon, and, were reasonably sure he was unarmed. While Garner was at the base of the fence, police called out for the suspect to stop and proceeded to take a few steps toward him. Garner began to climb over the fence and attempt to escape knowing if he didn’t he was

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

This is with the exception of cases’s where police are reasonably sure that if the suspect was to get away they would be a danger of life or serious bodily injury to either the police or society as a whole. This is the case that changed the previous statute to the more easily understood and widely accepted fleeing felon rule that is known and followed by police every where in todays society. This is how the ruling of the Supreme Court of this case applies to not only Tennessee but the country as a whole