Washington – The Supreme Court allowed on Thursday to the mother of a black man killed after a routine traffic stop in Houston to seek a claim of excessive force against the police officer who shot him.
The judges criticized a lower court for focusing solely at the time the force was used and not in the moments before it.
“Today we reject that approach,” Judge Elena Kagan wrote for a unanimous court. “To evaluate whether an officer acted reasonably in the use of force, a court must consider all relevant circumstances, including facts and events that lead to the climatic moment.”
Ashtian Barnes, 24, was killed in April 2016 when the vehicle he was driving began to advance while talking to the officer.
Roberto Felix Jr., a traffic application officer from the agent of the Harris County County agent, jumped on the car’s carrier when the vehicle moved and then shot Barnes twice. Barnes died on the scene.
The ruling means that a civil rights demand presented by Barnes’s mother, Janice Hughes, can advance for now. She states that Felix used excessive force in violation of the fourth amendment of the Constitution.
When failing for Hughes, the court rejected what has been called the “moment of the doctrine of the threat”, making clear the courts throughout the country that the events that lead to the use of a mortal force by an officer must be considered when evaluating a claim.
The court reaffirmed an existing precedent that says that “all circumstances” must be taken into account.
The ruling eliminates a barrier to bring such statements, but Hughes still faces a uphill battle.
Even if the lower courts finally allow their case to advance, it would not affect Felix’s ability to invoke the defense of qualified immunity, which protects the police if it was not “clearly established” at the time of the incident that their actions were illegal.
In a January interview with NBC News, Hughes said he was chasing the case because they want people to know that “my son was a victim.”
Five years after George Floyd’s death, another black man killed by a police officer, “nobody watches the police,” he added.
Although the lower courts failed against Hughes, both a judge of the District Court and a judge in the 5th Court of Appeals of the United States circuit based in New Orleans said that the time of the doctrine of the threat adopted by some courts that limits the consideration of the moments prior to the use of force was incorrect and should be revoked.
Barnes also filed a separate claim against the Police Department, which is not directly in question before the Supreme Court.
