In Barnes v. Felix the Supreme Court is set to address a circuit split concerning the context courts should consider when evaluating an excessive force claim brought under the Fourth Amendment.
Is the correct rubric the "moment of threat" doctrine (which was applied by the Fifth Circuit here and has been adopted by several other circuits including the Second, Fourth, and Eighth), which considers only whether there was imminent danger creating a reasonable fear for one's life in the immediate moment(s) preceding the use of force? Alternately, should a court consider the "totality of circumstances" (along the lines of the precedent of the First, Third, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits) when assessing if it was a justified use of force?
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Featuring:

Matthew P. Cavedon, Robert Pool Fellow in Law and Religion, Emory University School of Law