WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the mother of a Black man killed following a routine traffic stop in Houston to pursue an excessive force claim against the police officer who shot him.
The justices faulted a lower court for focusing solely on the moment force was used and not the moments leading up to it.
“Today we reject that approach,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for a unanimous court. “To assess whether an officer acted reasonably in using force, a court must consider all the relevant circumstances, including facts and events leading up to the climactic moment.”
Ashtian Barnes, 24, was killed in April 2016 when the vehicle he was driving started moving forward while he was speaking to the officer.
Roberto Felix Jr., a traffic enforcement officer with the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office, jumped on the car door sill when the vehicle moved and then shot Barnes twice. Barnes died at the scene.
The ruling means that a civil rights lawsuit filed by Barnes’ mother, Janice Hughes, can move forward for now. She claims Felix used excessive force in violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.
In ruling for Hughes, the court rejected what has been called the “moment of the threat doctrine,” making it clear to courts around the country that events leading up to an officer’s use of deadly force have to be considered when assessing a claim.
The court reaffirmed existing precedent that says the “totality of the circumstances” have to be taken into account.
The ruling removes one barrier for bringing such claims, but Hughes still potentially faces an uphill battle.
Even if lower courts ultimately allow her case to move forward, it would not affect Felix’s ability to invoke the qualified immunity defense, which protects cops if it was not “clearly established” at the time of the incident that their actions were unlawful.
In a January interview with NBC News, Hughes said she was pursuing the case because she wants people to know that “my son was a victim.”
Five years after the death of George Floyd, another Black man killed by a police officer, “nobody’s policing the police,” she added.
Although lower courts ruled against Hughes, both a district court judge and a judge on the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that moment of threat doctrine adopted by some courts that limits consideration of the moments leading up to the use of force was wrong and should be overturned.
Barnes also filed a separate claim against the police department, which is not directly at issue before the Supreme Court.
