Published on: Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Forty-three (!) Pennsylvania State Police SWAT team officers execute a pre-dawn, no-knock raid on the home of a Bangor, Penn. family. In legal parlance, they beat the snot out of the family—most egregiously striking a 76-year-old woman in night clothes in the face with a shield, breaking multiple teeth and a vertebra. Family sues under Fourth Amendment for excessive force. Third Circuit: "Policing can be rough business. But the Constitution requires police to use reasonable restraint, even when force may be necessary." No qualified immunity.
The case is Anglemeyer v. Ammons, No. 22-2788 (3d Cir. Feb. 7, 2024).