High court: police can use violent means to end high-speed chases

The Supreme Court's 8-to-1 decision involved a Georgia teenager, who sued a police deputy who rammed the teen's speeding car, causing serious physical damage.

By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the May 1, 2007 edition

Page 1 of 3

Police have discretion to use ramming tactics to end high-speed chases without facing future lawsuits filed by the fleeing suspects.

In an important ruling defining Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures in the context of high-speed police chases, the US Supreme Court on Monday gave a green light to law enforcement to use violent force to stop fleeing suspects who pose a substantial and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others.

"A police officer's attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent bystanders does not violate the Fourth Amendment, even when it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death," writes Justice Antonin Scalia in the majority opinion.

The 8-to-1 decision stems from a March 2001 high-speed police chase in Coweta County, Ga., that ended with the 19-year-old suspect becoming a quadriplegic after a deputy sheriff forced the teen's car off the road where it overturned in a wreck.

The driver, Victor Harris, later sued Deputy Timothy Scott for using excessive force to end the high-speed pursuit.

Lawyers for Deputy Scott argued that the suit should be dismissed because he was covered by qualified immunity.

Mr. Harris's lawyers countered that the deputy could be sued because his decision to ram Harris's car was unreasonable in light of clearly established Fourth Amendment protections.

To decide the case, the majority justices relied in part on a police videotape of the chase. Justice Scalia writes that the videotape displayed a different version of the facts than those portrayed by the appeals court panel that upheld the Harris lawsuit against the deputy.

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For further information:
•	Video of the car chase US Supreme Court website
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