Supreme Court Decides Pursuit Case

Today the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a Coweta County (Geo.) sheriff’s deputy was justified in bumping a speeding car off the roadway in 2001 to end a dangerous pursuit. The case was brought in appeal of a civil case on behalf of an occupant who was paralyzed when the pursued vehicle crashed. The court wrote, “Because the car chase respondent initiated posed a substantial and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others, (the deputy’s) attempt to terminate the chase by forcing respondent off the road was reasonable, and (the deputy) is entitled to summary judgment.” Download (pdf) the court’s decision here, or download (RealPlayer) the dashboard camera video of the chase that the Justices used to help make their decision. Read another perspective of the incident posted by the National Police Accountability Project here.