Opinion ID: 773804
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Darrah's Excessive Force Claim

Text: 16 While excessive force claims are often best analyzed under the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable seizures, Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 394 (1989), the Supreme Court has recently cautioned that not all constitutional claims relating to physically abusive government conduct must arise under either the Fourth or Eighth Amendments[.] United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259, 272 n.7 (1997). Instead, the Court noted that Graham simply requires that if a constitutional claim is covered by a specific constitutional provision, such as the Fourth or Eighth Amendment, the claim must be analyzed under the standard appropriate to that specific provision, not under the rubric of substantive due process. Id. Thus, while the Fourth Amendment objective reasonableness analysis should be used in excessive force cases involving searches and seizures, where there is no search or seizure, the Supreme Court has held that the substantive component of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause is the most appropriate lens with which to view an excessive force claim. County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 843-44 (1998). 17 A substantially higher hurdle must be surpassed to make a showing of excessive force under the Fourteenth Amendment than under the objective reasonableness test of Graham, in which excessive force can be found if the officer's actions, in light of the totality of the circumstances, were not objectively reasonable. Graham, 490 U.S. at 396-97; Lewis, 523 U.S. at 845-46. The substantive due process rights of the Fourteenth Amendment protect citizens from the arbitrary exercise of governmental power. Lewis, 523 U.S. at 845. The test applied by the Supreme Court to determine when governmental conduct reaches this threshold is to ask whether the alleged conduct shocks the conscience. Id. at 846, 118 S. Ct. 1708. In Lewis, the Supreme Court explained that whether governmental conduct shocks the conscience depends on the factual circumstances of the case. Id. at 851-53, 118 S. Ct. 1708. More specifically, in situations where the implicated government actors 18 are afforded a reasonable opportunity to deliberate various alternatives prior to electing a course of action ... , their actions will be deemed conscience-shocking if they were taken with deliberate indifference towards the plaintiff's federally protected rights. In contradistinction, in a rapidly evolving, fluid, and dangerous predicament which precludes the luxury of calm and reflective pre-response deliberation ..., public servants' reflexive actions shock the conscience only if they involved force employed maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm rather than in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline. 19 Claybrook v. Birchwell, 199 F.3d 350, 359 (6th Cir. 2000) (quoting Lewis, 523 U.S. at 852-53). 20 The first question in this case, then, is whether Officer Bragg's conduct in striking plaintiff in the face while plaintiff was attempting to prevent Bragg from executing an arrest constitutes a seizure. If so, this court should apply the Fourth Amendment objective reasonableness analysis articulated in Graham. If not, this court must determine whether Bragg's conduct, given these circumstances, shocks the conscience. Ultimately, we conclude that, regardless of which test is applied, Darrah is unable to create a genuine issue of material fact with respect to her excessive force claim. Therefore, we need not and do not decide whether Bragg's conduct constitutes a seizure.
21 Applying the shock the conscience test, the more difficult standard for the plaintiff to meet, it is clear that the district court's decision granting summary judgment to Officer Bragg must be affirmed. As stated earlier, the Supreme Court has held that different conscience-shocking standards should be applied depending on the circumstances in which the governmental action occurred. Lewis, 523 U.S. at 850-51. Unlike those instances where the government actor has the time to deliberate various alternatives before acting, this case is precisely one of those rapidly evolving, fluid, and dangerous predicament[s] which precludes the luxury of calm and reflective pre-response deliberation[.] Claybrook, 199 F.3d at 359. Officer Bragg, when grabbed from behind in a loud and unruly crowd of people, did not have time to deliberate the best possible course of action. Just the opposite is the case. In these instances, the Court has stated that the government actor's conduct shocks the conscience only if the force was applied maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm. Lewis, 523 U.S. at 853 (quotation omitted). Given the facts of this case, the plaintiff simply cannot show that any reasonable jury could find that Officer Bragg's conduct was malicious, sadistic, and imposed not to restore order, but only to cause harm.
22 Even if we were to apply the Fourth Amendment objective reasonableness test, an easier standard for the plaintiff to meet, there still is no genuine issue that Officer Bragg's conduct did not amount to excessive force. In determining whether an officer's actions were objectively reasonable, courts must view the reasonableness of any seizure in light of the totality of the circumstances, analyzing the facts from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. Graham, 490 U.S. at 396. The Graham Court emphasized that, when conducting the reasonableness inquiry, we must keep in mind the tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving circumstances in which officers are forced to make difficult decisions about the appropriate level of force to be used. Id. at 397, 109 S. Ct. 1865. In addition, when determining the reasonableness of the force used, courts should pay particular attention to the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight. Id. at 396, 109 S. Ct. 1865. 23 In this case, Officer Bragg and the other members of his arrest team were in the middle of a boisterous and unruly group of picketers attempting to make an arrest of an individual who was resisting their efforts. One picketer had just jumped on the backs of Officers Bragg and Petrides before the third officer was able to restrain him. The crowd was chanting in opposition to the police, and the noise grew louder as the officers attempted to clear the driveway. In the midst of this tumult, plaintiff grabbed Bragg's ankle with both of her hands and tried to prevent him from executing Dearmond's arrest. While Officer Bragg freed himself from her grasp initially, plaintiff grabbed his ankle again. Only then did Bragg swing his arm backward at the plaintiff so as to free himself and further attempt to subdue Dearmond. 24 Viewing these facts from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, Graham, 490 U.S. at 396, it is clear that Officer Bragg took relatively minimal measures to free himself from plaintiff, particularly after his first attempt at shaking her loose was only temporarily effective. In light of the totality of the circumstances in which Officer Bragg was embroiled, we are convinced that any reasonable jury would find that Bragg's conduct was objectively reasonable. 2 25 Thus, regardless of the standard that applies, plaintiff has failed to create a genuine issue of material fact with respect to the reasonableness of Bragg's conduct. Accordingly, the district court's decision granting Bragg summary judgment as to this claim is AFFIRMED. 26