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Handcuffing too tight without injury not a viable § 1983 claim

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Excessive force claims are evaluated without regard to the lawfulness of the underlying arrest. Handcuffing too tight does not give rise to liability without proof of injury. Gray v. Horton, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4194 (S.D. La. January 18, 2008): Gray also alleges that he suffered a constitutional violation because Horton and Cox used excessive force in his arrest. His claim of excessive force is separate and distinct from his unlawful arrest claim and, therefore, the court must analyze the excessive force claim without regard to whether his arrest was justified. Freeman v. Gore, 483 F.3d 404, 417 (5th Cir. 2007) (The fact that an arrest was unlawful "does not, however, mean that any force used by [officers] to effectuate the arrest was necessarily excessive...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 24, 2008 (boomark / email).