Kingsley v. Hendrickson (576 U.S. 389)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 22, 2015 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 576 U.S. 389 · 135 S. Ct. 2466
- Decided
- June 22, 2015
- Term
- October Term 2014
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice BREYERdelivered the opinion of the Court. In this case, an individual detained in a jail prior to trial brought a claim under Rev. Stat. § 1979, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against several jail officers, alleging that they used excessive force against him, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The officers concede that they intended to use the force that they used. But the parties disagree about whether the force used was excessive. The question before us is whether, to prove an excessive force claim, a pretrial detainee must show that the officers were subjectivelyaware that their use of force was unreasonable, or only that the officers' use of that force was objectivelyunreasonable. We conclude that the latter standard is the correct one. I A Some but not all of the facts are undisputed: Michael Kingsley, the petitioner, was arrested on a drug charge and detained in a Wisconsin county jail prior to trial. On the evening of May 20, 2010, an officer performing a cell check noticed a piece of paper covering the light fixture above Kingsley's bed. The officer told Kingsley to remove it; Kingsley refused; subsequently other officers told Kingsley to remove the paper; and each time Kingsley refused. The next morning, the jail administrator, Lieutenant Robert Conroy, ordered Kingsley to remove the paper. Kingsley once again refused. Conroy then told Kingsley…
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