As the investigations and civil turmoil continue after Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown to death in Ferguson, Mo., a 25-year-old U.S. Supreme Court case will shape the paramaters on how the officer will be judged, the Associated Press reports: "The Supreme Court case, decided at a time when violence against police was on the rise, has shaped the legal standards that govern when police officers are justified in using force. The key question about [Brown']s killing on Aug. 9 is whether a reasonable officer with a similar background would have responded the same way."
The case is Graham v. Connor. The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote that '"the ‘reasonableness’ of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.'"
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
