Opinion ID: 750084
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Use of Excessive Force against Tierney and Philip Newton

Text: 46 Plaintiffs also claim that the Officers used excessive force: (i) when Davidson grabbed Tierney's arm to move her out of the doorway to the children's bedroom; (ii) when Davidson grabbed Philip Newton's arm; (iii) when Williams hit Tierney with a nightstick after she joined the struggle with Patrick Newton; and (iv) when Davidson grabbed Tierney's arm to stop her from following Patrick Newton outside. 7 However, the Officers are entitled to qualified immunity on these claims as well. 47 Plaintiffs do not assert that they were arrested or seized, and therefore these claims fall outside the Fourth Amendment protections applied in Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 394-95, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 1871, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989), and are governed instead by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Under Johnson v. Glick, 481 F.2d 1028, 1033 (2d Cir.1973), a four-part test is employed to determine whether force is excessive under the Fourteenth Amendment, i.e., whether it shocks the conscience. See Rahman v. Philip, No. 92 CIV. 5349 (SHS), 1995 WL 679251, at  4 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 15, 1995) (applying Johnson test to excessive force claim under Due Process Clause), aff'd, 104 F.3d 356 (2d Cir.1996) (summary order), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 2438, 138 L.Ed.2d 198 (1997). Those factors are:  the need for the application of force, the relationship between the need and the amount of force that was used, the extent of injury inflicted, and whether force was applied in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm. Johnson, 481 F.2d at 1033. The Officers' use of force as to Tierney and Philip Newton was de minimis, necessary, appropriate, and benign.