HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - March 7, 2001 E-08CITY OF LODI COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
AGENDA TITLE: Request to Join in Amicus Brief in the case of Robinson y.
Solano County, 298 F.3d 1030(9! Cir.WM.
MEETING DATE: March 7, 2001
PREPARED BY: Randall A. Hays, City Attorney
RECOMMENDATION: That the City join the Amicus Brief in the case of RQbinson
v. Solano CouW.
BACKGROUND: Amicus Briefs are filed in various actions, which involves matters of
wide-ranging concern to provide information and additional
argument to the Court in order to assist the Court in understanding
all of the issues and arrive at a conclusion.
This case involves a decision by the Ninth Circuit that ruled that the mere act of a police officer pointing a
gun at someone, even someone who has been reported as being armed can constitute excessive force for
which a police officer can be sued. The Court further held that the reasonableness of the officer's decision
is a question of fact, which must go to the jury. This particular decision turns the law that had previously
existed completely upside down. The Ninth Circuit has agreed to rehear the case by the full court. The
League of California Cities has requested that cities join in the amicus brief in support of Solano County in
this matter.
This case is important because if the Ninth Circuit decision is allowed to stand, our City could well be
placed in the impossible position of either ordering its police officers to not use the one technique most
likely to protect them from the random violence that plagues our streets, or to accept the flood of new
lawsuits possibly one every time a police officer feels obligated to unholster his or her gun, all of which
under the Court's decision will have to go to trial. Neither of these options is acceptable.
FUNDING: Not applicable.
Respectfully submitted,
WIVA" W."Awn WZROWA-1.�'! ffill �
APPROVED:
H. Q on Flynn -- City Manager