Supreme Court Rules that Suspects Injured During a Police Car Chase Can't Sue for Their Injuries

In a ruling many law enforcement officials say was long overdue, The Supreme Court has ruled that suspects who lead police on high-speed and potentially dangerous car chases cannot in turn sue the police for injuries sustained as a result of the chase.

The Supreme Court made the ruling after hearing the case of Victor Harris, a teenager from Georgia who sustained serious injuries during a 2001 police car chase. Victor Harris' car was rammed by police cars in an effort to stop the vehicle, and was knocked down an embankment. Since then, Victor Harris has been rendered a quadriplegic and resides in assisted living home.

Nine Supreme Court justices saw video of the police car chase, in which Victor Harris was seen driving in excess of 100 mph, recklessly passing vehicles, driving into the oncoming traffic lane, and at one point, ramming his own car into police vehicles in an effort to escape.

At that point, police asked for permission to use reasonable force to ram Victor Harris' car in a particular way that would cause the car to spin out and hopefully, effectively end the car chase. However, due to the excessive speed of Victor Harris' car, police opted to ram the car differently, resulting in the crash that injured the Georgia teenager.

When similar cases are brought to court, the suspect is often painted as a safe driver by lawyers, and that police car chases ensue as a result of the suspect either being suitably frightened by police or other reasons attributed to anything but the suspect themselves. However, thanks to the advent of dashboard-mounted video in police cars, the court can now see the actual picture and the reckless behavior of the suspects.

After viewing the tape and hearing a description of police tactics used during a police car chase, the Supreme Court justices ruled 8-1 in favor of the police. Previous Supreme Court precedents have stated that police officers can only apply deadly force if the suspect poses a "significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others".

Various law enforcement officials have argued that giving suspects the right to sue for their injuries can seriously hinder future police car chases in which police officers would need to either determine within seconds if deadly force is required, or if they should wait further, which can result in injuries to officers or others that could have otherwise been prevented.