Court Opinion

ID: 9817073
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 03:54:36.26272+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:33.811042
License: Public Domain

LOKEN, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
In Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989), the *998Supreme Court stated: “The calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments — in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving — about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation.” Id. at 396-97, 109 S.Ct. 1865 (emphasis added). The committee notes to Eighth Circuit Model Jury Instruction (Civil) 4.10 (2001) advise district judges to incorporate that language in excessive force jury instructions when appropriate. Surely, that is sound advice. Accordingly, I do not join the court’s suggestion that “district courts should avoid” incorporating the Supreme Court’s above-quoted mandate in their jury instructions. Ante p. 997. I would leave the question to their discretion.