common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

, the fleeing felon rule permits the

use of force The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject". Use of force doctrines can be employed by law enforcement officers and military perso ...

, including deadly force, against an individual who is suspected of a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

and is in clear flight.

U.S. law

Under

U.S. law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

the fleeing felon rule was limited in 1985 to non-lethal force in most cases by ''

Tennessee v. Garner ''Tennessee v. Garner'', 471 U.S. 1 (1985), is a civil case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that, under the Fourth Amendment, when a law enforcement officer is pursuing a fleeing suspect, the officer may not use deadly force ...

,'' . The justices held that deadly force "may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or others."Robert C. Ankony, "Sociological and Criminological Theory: Brief of Theorists, Theories, and Terms," ''CFM Research'', Jul. 2012, p.37. Fleeing felons may be followed into places not open to the public without a warrant if the officer is in "

hot pursuit Hot pursuit is a legal term. Hot Pursuit may also refer to: Film and television * ''Hot Pursuit'' (1984 TV series), a 1984 NBC television series * ''Hot Pursuit'' (2006 TV series), a 2006 Court TV television series * ''Hot Pursuit'' (1987 film) ...

Case law

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served ...

's memo written while working in the Solicitor General's office regarding ''Memphis Police v. Garner'', which was the Sixth Circuit appellate case leading to

. (May 18, 1984) (PDF) *''People v. Couch'' (1990) in the Michigan Supreme Court held that ''Tennessee v. Garner'' was # civil rather than criminal action; # did not affect Michigan's Fleeing Felon Rule; and # that a citizen may use deadly force when restraining a fleeing felon in a criminal matter. *''State v. Weddell'',{{cite court , litigants = , vol = 118 , reporter = Nev. Adv. Op. No. , opinion = 23 , pinpoint = , court = Supreme Court of the State of Nevada , date = April 10, 2002 , url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=nv&vol=118NevAdvOpNo23&invol=2 The Nevada Supreme Court ruled that a

private citizen A private citizen is someone who does not have an official or professional role in a given situation. The same person may be a private citizen in one role, and an official in another. For example, a legislator is an official when voting in the leg ...

may not use deadly force under the common law fleeing felon rule.

References

Criminal law Legal doctrines and principles

U.S. law

Case law

See also

References