The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday in favor of expanding the review process for police officers accused of using excessive force to include the circumstances that led up to the incident, not just what was happening the point at which the force was used, in a procedural change that could give accused officers more evidence with which to defend themselves.
The Thursday ruling in Barnes v. Felix stemmed from a deadly 2016 traffic stop between police officer Roberto Felix Jr. and Ashtian Barnes in Texas. Felix pulled over Barnes, who was in a rental car in his girlfriend’s name, over various outstanding toll violations attributed to the car. While Barnes was initially responsive to Felix, the police officer eventually told Barnes to get out of the car,
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