City and County of San Francisco, California v. Sheehan (575 U.S. 600)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 18, 2015 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 575 U.S. 600 · 135 S. Ct. 1765
- Decided
- May 18, 2015
- Term
- October Term 2014
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Alito
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice ALITOdelivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari to consider two questions relating to the manner in which San Francisco police officers arrested a woman who was suffering from a mental illness and had become violent. After reviewing the parties' submissions, we dismiss the first question as improvidently granted. We decide the second question and hold that the officers are entitled to qualified immunity because they did not violate any clearly established Fourth Amendment rights. I Petitioners are the City and County of San Francisco, California (San Francisco), and two police officers, Sergeant Kimberly Reynolds and Officer Kathrine Holder. Respondent is Teresa Sheehan, a woman who suffers from a schizoaffective disorder. Because this case arises in a summary judgment posture, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Sheehan, the nonmoving party. See, e.g., Plumhoff v. Rickard,572 U.S. ----, ---- - ----, 134 S.Ct. 2012, 2017, 188 L.Ed.2d 1056 (2014). In August 2008, Sheehan lived in a group home for people dealing with mental illness. Although she shared common areas of the building with others, she had a private room. On August 7, Heath Hodge, a social worker who supervised the counseling staff in the building, attempted to visit Sheehan to conduct a welfare check. Hodge was concerned because Sheehan had stopped taking her medication, no…
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