The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision yesterday (4/30) in Scott v. Harris. Carolyn Elefant describes the 8-1 decision as "effectively establishing a flat rule that a police officer in a high-speed chase that poses a threat to the safety of others does not violate the Fourth Amendment even where the officer places the fleeing motorist at risk of injury or death." An issue in the case was whether the actions take by the police officer to stop the fleeing individual were reasonable.
In the decision, Justice Scalia, writing for the majority, discusses a videotape of the police chase and Justice Stephens dissent:
In the decision, Justice Scalia, writing for the majority, discusses a videotape of the police chase and Justice Stephens dissent:
JUSTICE STEVENS suggests that our reaction to the videotape is somehow idiosyncratic and seems to believe that we are misrepresenting its contents...We are happy to allow the videotape to speak for itself. See Record 36, Exh. A, available at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/video/So now you have the U.S. Supreme Court citing to a video in a decision, and then putting the video on its website so everyone can see what it is talking about. I like this development...I think.
scott_v_harris.rmvb and in the Clerk of Court's case file.
(Emphasis mine).