Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Garner plus five years: An examination of Supreme Court intervention into police discretion and legislative prerogatives

  • Articles
  • Published:
American Journal of Criminal Justice Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines legislative changes, state attorney general activities, and early federal case law following the 1985 United States Supreme Court holding inTennessee v. Gamer that laws authorizing police use of deadly force to apprehend fleeing, unarmed, non-violent felony suspects violated the Fourth Amendment. Only four of the 23 states apparently affected by this decision have brought their statutes into line with it. Only two of the attorneys general in the remaining 19 states have advised police of the decision. These findings indicate that control of police discretion in use of deadly force has been assumed by police administrators, and that criminal law definitions and the legal advice of attorneys general are largely irrelevant to effective control of police behavior

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Sources

  • Acoff v. Abston (1985) 762 F.2d 1543.

  • American Law Institute (1931)ALI Proceedings 186–187 (statement of Professor Mikell).

  • - (1958)Model Penal Code (Tentative Draft No. 8).

  • - (1962)Model Penal Code (Proposed Official Draft).

  • Bork, John K. (October 4, 1989) personal correspondence.

  • Brower v. County of Inyo (1989) 57 L.W. 4321.

  • Cameron v. City of Pontiac, Michigan (1986) 813 F. 2d 782.

  • Florida Attorney General, (1971)Annual Report (#071-41), cited in Herman Goldstein (1977)Policing a Free Society (Cambridge MA: Ballinger: 127, n. 16).

  • Ford v. Childers (1986) 650 F. Supp. 110 (CD. III.).

  • Fyfe, James J. (1981) “Observations on Police Deadly Force,” 27Crime and Delinquency 376–389.

  • Galas v. McKee (1986) 801 F. 2d. 200.

  • Giant Food. Inc. v. Scherry (1982) 51 Md. App. 586, 444 A.2d 483.

  • Grandstaff v. City of Borger, Texas (1985) 767 F.2d 161.

  • Hendricks v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1935) 163 Va. 1103.

  • Hinojosa v. City of Terrell. Texas (1985) 834 F.2d 1223.

  • Kansas Statutes Annotated (1970).

  • Matulia, Kenneth R. (1982)A Balance of Forces. (Gaithersburg MD: International Association of Chiefs of Police).

  • Memphis Police Department (July 16, 1979)General Order 95–79. Deadly Force Policy

  • Memphis v. Garner (1983) 710 F.2d 240.

  • Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436.

  • Monell v. New York City Department of Social Services (1978) 436 U.S. 658.

  • Moreland, Ray (1954) “The Use of Deadly Force in Effecting or Resisting Arrest,”Nebraska Law Review 33(3):408–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • New York State Combined Council of Law Enforcement Officials (June 1, 1964)Policy Statement to All Law Enforcement Officers in New York State.

  • New York State (1973)Criminal Procedure Law.

  • New York State (1967)Penal Law.

  • Peterson v. City of Long Beach (1979) 24 Cal. 3rd 238, 595 P. 2d 447.

  • Police Executive Research Forum (1982) Survey of Police Deadly Force Policies, unpublished report (Washington DC: Police Executive Research Forum).

    Google Scholar 

  • Police Foundation, et al. (1984)Amici Curiae Brief in Tennessee v. Garner. United States Supreme Court Numbers 83–1035, 83–1070.

  • President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice (1967)Task Force Report: The Police (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office).

    Google Scholar 

  • Purcell, Pierce T. (October 3, 1989) personal correspondence.

  • Ryder v. Citv of Topeka (1987) 814 F.2d. 1412.

  • Schmidt, Wayne W. (1986) “Section 1983 and the Changing Face of Police Management, 226–236 in William A. Geller, ed.,Police Leadership in America: Crisis and Opportunity (New York: Praeger)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, Lawrence W. (1980) “Execution Without Trial: Police Homicide and the Constitution,” 33Vanderbilt Law Review 71–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • — (1983) “Reducing Police Gun Use: Critical Events, Administrative Policy and Organizational Change,” pp. 98–125 in Maurice Punch, ed.,The Management and Control of Police Organizations (Cambridge MA: M.I.T. Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tennessee v. Garner (1985) 471 U.S. 1.

  • Tennessee Code Annotated (1982).

  • Uelman, Gerald (1973) “Varieties of Public Policy: A Study of Police Policy Regarding the Use of Deadly Force in Los Angeles County,” 6Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1–55 (1973).

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, Samuel, and Lorie Fridell (November 1989), ”The Impact ofTennessee v. Garner on Deadly Force Policy,” presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Reno.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The American University, Washington, DC

    James J. Fyfe

  2. Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas

    Jeffery T. Walker

Authors
  1. James J. Fyfe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeffery T. Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fyfe, J.J., Walker, J.T. Garner plus five years: An examination of Supreme Court intervention into police discretion and legislative prerogatives. AJCJ 14, 167–188 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02892064

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02892064

Keywords

Search

Navigation