The question presented is whether the Supreme Court should reject the "moment of the threat" doctrine and permit the Fifth Circuit (and other circuits that have adopted the same approach) to evaluate the totality of the circumstances when evaluating the constitutionality of an officer’s actions.
Not clearly established that officer’s continued use of force against intoxicated individual after he was apparently unconscious violated his Fourth Amendment right, where officer delivered four quick punches in four seconds, and plaintiff failed to identify case establishing that officer had to perceive instantaneously that suspect was unconscious.
Court affords officers qualified immunity for takedown of plaintiff; holds summary judgment inappropriate for excessive force claim based on officers kneeling on plaintiff’s back after takedown due to factual dispute about circumstances, but holds crediting plaintiffs account of event, officers not entitled to qualified immunity because “applying pressure to the back of a prone suspect who no longer resists arrest and poses no flight risk is an objectively unreasonable use of force”.
Clearly established by 2018 that non-dangerous, non-actively resistant, and at least partially subdued arrestee had 4th Amendment right to be free from excessive force in form of head strikes.
In 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution of sheriff, case law gave sheriff fair warning that prolonged use of restraint chairs against uncompliant, nonresistant pretrial detainees constituted excessive force.
Requiring civilian oversight investigations in excessive force cases.
Clearly established since at least 2008 that deployment of less-lethal munitions on an unthreatening protester who is neither committing a serious offense nor seeking to flee is unconstitutionally excessive force.
Clearly established that it was excessive force to slam person into a car during arrest for relatively minor offense when suspect did not endanger anyone else, did not resist, and did not attempt to escape, and that officers could not engage in additional unnecessary force, such as gratuitously overtightening handcuffs and refusing to adjust them in response to complaints of “excruciating pain” followed by numbness; no qualified immunity.