Bryan v. McPherson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate · 2 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The severity of Bryan’s purported offenses provide little, if any, basis for Officer McPherson’s use of physical force. It is undisputed that Bryan’s initial crime was a mere traffic infraction— failing to wear a seat belt-punishable by a fine.... Officer McPherson also claims that he reasonably believed Bryan had committed three misdemeanors — resisting a police officer, failure to comply with a lawful order, and using or being under the influence of any controlled substance — and that these constitute serious and dangerous criminal activity. We disagree with Officer McPherson’s assessment. While the commission of a misdemeanor is not to be taken lightly, it militates against finding the force used to effect an arrest reasonable where the suspect was also nonviolent and posed no threat to the safety of the officers or others. None of the offenses for which Bryan was cited in inherently dangerous or violent, and as already discussed, Bryan posed little to no safety threat. Therefore, there was no substantial government interest in using significant force to effect Bryan’s arrest for these misdemeanor violations that even the State of California has determined are minor.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 709 F. Supp. 2d 944 - Campos v. City of Merced

2. ““[rjesistance,” however, should not be understood as a binary state, with resistance being either completely passive or active. Rather, it runs the gamut from the purely passive protestor who simply refuses to stand, to the individual who is physically assaulting the officer. We must eschew ultimately unhelpful blanket labels and evaluate the nature of any resistance in light of the actual facts of the case. For example, in Smith v. City of Hemet, we confronted an individual who “continually ignored” officer commands to remove his hands from his pockets and to not re-enter his home. In addition, he “physically resisted ... for only a brief time.” [Citation.] Although Smith was not perfectly passive in the encounter, we stated that it did not appear “that Smith’s resistance was particularly bellicose” and thus found that this factor provided little support for a use of significant force. [Citation.] Even purely passive resistance can support the use of some force, but the level of force an individual’s resistance will support is dependent on the factual circumstances underlying that resistance.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 709 F. Supp. 2d 944 - Campos v. City of Merced

3. “First, the court determines whether the facts show the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right. If the alleged conduct did not violate a constitutional right, then the defendants are entitled to immunity and the claim must be dismissed. However, if the alleged conduct did violate such a right, then the court must determine whether the right was clearly established at the time of the alleged unlawful action. A right is clearly established if a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. If the right is not clearly established, then the officer is entitled to qualified immunity. While the order in which these questions are addressed is left to the court’s sound discretion, it is often beneficial to perform the analysis in the sequence outlined above. Of course, where a claim of qualified immunity is to be denied, both questions must be answered.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 682 F. Supp. 2d 1100 - Dagdagan v. City of Vallejo