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Eugene

(61,819 posts)
Mon Oct 3, 2016, 02:45 PM Oct 2016

Supreme Court rejects Taser excessive force case (x-post from LBN)

Cross posted by request

LBN thread: Supreme Court rejects Taser excessive force case

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Mon Oct 3, 2016 | 10:00am EDT

Supreme Court rejects Taser excessive force case

By Lawrence Hurley | WASHINGTON

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a lower court's ruling that police use of a Taser amounted to unconstitutional excessive force in a case involving a mentally ill man who died after being stunned with the electrical weapon five times in two minutes.

The justices declined to hear an appeal by the North Carolina village of Pinehurst of a January federal appeals court ruling that police can use a Taser only if officers are in immediate danger.

The village was sued by the family of Ronald Armstrong, a man with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia who died in April 2011 after a confrontation with police.

The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the officers used excessive force in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-taser-idUSKCN1231GK
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