No. _________ ================================================================ In The Supreme Court of the United States --------------------------------- --------------------------------- OFFICER VANCE PLUMHOFF, et al., Petitioners, vs. WHITNE RICKARD, a minor child, individually, and as surviving daughter of Donald Rickard, deceased, by and through her mother Samantha Rickard, as parent and next friend, Respondent. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- On Petition For Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit --------------------------------- --------------------------------- PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI --------------------------------- --------------------------------- MICHAEL A. MOSLEY PHILIP W. SAVRIN P.O. Box 38 Counsel of Record North Little Rock, AR 72115 JACOB E. DALY (501) 978-6131 FREEMAN MATHIS & GARY, LLP 100 Galleria Parkway Suite 1600 Atlanta, GA 30339 (770) 818-1405
[email protected] ================================================================ COCKLE LAW BRIEF PRINTING CO. (800) 225-6964 OR CALL COLLECT (402) 342-2831 i QUESTIONS PRESENTED In a civil case against police officers for excessive force, a court must grant qualified immunity unless the use of force was prohibited by clearly established law. Here, the Sixth Circuit denied qualified immun- ity for force used in 2004 to end a vehicular pursuit that is similar to the force ruled permissible in Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007). The Sixth Circuit denied qualified immunity by distinguishing Scott “in the details” from the force used three years earlier in this case. (Pet. App. at 8-9.) The Sixth Circuit applied a similar analysis in Walker v. Davis, 649 F.3d 502 (6th Cir. 2011), where it also distinguished Scott to deny qualified immunity for pre-2007 conduct. As Judge McKeague noted in his extended dissent, the Sixth Circuit stands alone in this analysis.