Reinink v. Hart
Petition for certiorari denied on May 26, 2026. Justices Thomas and Alito would grant the petition and summarily reverse.
Issue
(1) Whether, in the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness-of-a-seizure context, a law enforcement officer’s intended level of force is relevant to determining whether an officer’s use of force should be analyzed under a deadly-use-of-force standard or a general use-of-force standard; and (2) whether, in analyzing an excessive force claim brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, an officer’s mistaken use of force being higher than what he or she intended entitles the officer to qualified immunity, so long as the mistake is reasonable under the circumstances.
Recommended Citation: Reinink v. Hart, SCOTUSblog, https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/reinink-v-hart/