by Summer Tyme

Created on: March 06, 2010   Last Updated: April 27, 2010

Are the Police Violating the Law When Tasering an Unarmed Citizen?

This is a question already answered by the courts. but the courts never give a simple "yes" or "no" answer when considering questions of Constitutional rights and how far law enforcement may go. The responses from the courts are always qualified with explanation. This is a topic that falls under what police officers may or may not do while a suspect is in custody, is being taken into custody, or is otherwise under the supervision of law enforcement, such as in prison. It requires more than a "yes" or "no" response.

Police brutality and unnecessary use of force have been addressed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Most cases do not go that high to be resolved when a charge of tasering or use of unnecessary force is made against an officer of the law by a citizen as precedent has been set. Supreme Court precedent is a rule that must be followed by all other courts.

As in other cases addressed by this nation’s court system, the Constitution and its Amendments come in for applying the rule of law. The question would be asked, “Was it…the use of force… reasonable?”  Was the use of the taser reasonable? How can this question be answered? Finding an answer to whether it was "reasonable" to use the taser will answer whether it was a violation of the law for the taser to be used. Citizens are guaranteed, by the wording of the Fourth Amendment, that no law enforcement officer or representative of government will seize them without it being a lawful, reasonable seizure. This guarantee includes the use of force in making the seizure.

The Courts have ruled that when a citizen is being arrested, “seized” and/or searched, law enforcement officers may use force to accomplish this seizure and search if force is necessary to ensure the safety of the officers, the public and the citizen under arrest. If the citizen is armed or there is a possibility the citizen is armed, the officers are allowed by law to disarm the suspect for their safety and the safety of others. Naturally they cannot disarm someone who is armed only with the use of their own body parts. However, the question under consideration is whether it is lawful to use a taser on an “unarmed” citizen? The question comes back to this: Is it reasonable? In other words, would a reasonable person do likewise under like circumstances?

Suppose for the sake of argument, a man is being stopped

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