Legal Opinion
County of Sacramento v. Lewis
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided May 26, 1998No. 96-1337PublishedCited by 5,902 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Souter
The issue in this ease is whether a police officer violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of substantive due process by causing death through deliberate or reckless indifference to life in a high-speed automobile chase aimed at apprehending a suspected offender. We answer no, and hold that in such circumstances only a purpose to cause harm unrelated to the legitimate object of arrest will satisfy the element of arbitrary conduct shocking to the conscience, necessary for a due process violation.
I
On May 22, 1990, at approximately 8:30 p.m., petitioner James Everett Smith, a Sacramento…
2Cases cited47 opinions
- Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.Supreme Court of the United States · 1978
- Estelle v. GambleSupreme Court of the United States · 1976
- Graham v. ConnorSupreme Court of the United States · 1989
- Wolff v. McDonnellSupreme Court of the United States · 1974
- Bell v. WolfishSupreme Court of the United States · 1979
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3Cited by5,902 opinions
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- Kingsley v. HendricksonSupreme Court of the United States · 2015
- Wilson v. LayneSupreme Court of the United States · 1999
- Toguchi v. Soon Hwang ChungCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2004
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