Tennessee v. Garner et al.

Decided March 27, 1985. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1035 · 471 U.S. 1 (1985) · Cited 4,272 times

Holding

The Tennessee statute is unconstitutional insofar as it authorizes the use of deadly force against, as in this case, an apparently unarmed, nondangerous fleeing suspect; such force may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Solem v. Helm · 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
• United States v. Watson · 423 U.S. 411 (1976)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• United States v. Place · 462 U.S. 696 (1983)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Owen v. City of Independence · 445 U.S. 622 (1980)
• Welsh v. Wisconsin · 466 U.S. 740 (1984)
• Ashcroft v. Mattis · 431 U.S. 171 (1977)
• Florida v. Royer · 460 U.S. 491 (1983)
• United States v. Mendenhall · 446 U.S. 544 (1980)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Baker v. McCollan · 443 U.S. 137 (1979)
• Gerstein v. Pugh · 420 U.S. 103 (1975)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• Ker v. California · 374 U.S. 23 (1963)
• Enmund v. Florida · 458 U.S. 782 (1982)
• United States v. Martinez-Fuerte · 428 U.S. 543 (1976)
• Michigan v. Summers · 452 U.S. 692 (1981)
• Davis v. Mississippi · 394 U.S. 721 (1969)
• Coker v. Georgia · 433 U.S. 584 (1977)
• Spaziano v. Florida · 468 U.S. 447 (1984)
• Cupp v. Murphy · 412 U.S. 291 (1973)
• Winston v. Lee · 470 U.S. 753 (1985)
• Hayes v. Florida · 470 U.S. 811 (1985)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Scott v. Harris · 550 U.S. 372 (2007)
• Brosseau v. Haugen · 543 U.S. 194 (2004)
• Graham v. Connor · 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
• Kisela v. Hughes · 584 U.S. 100 (2018)
• Brower Ex Rel. Estate of Caldwell v. County of Inyo · 489 U.S. 593 (1989)
• Mullenix v. Luna · 577 U.S. 7 (2015)
• Atwater v. City of Lago Vista · 532 U.S. 318 (2001)
• White v. Pauly · 580 U.S. 73 (2017)
• Missouri v. McNeely · 569 U.S. 141 (2013)
• County of Los Angeles v. Mendez · 581 U.S. 420 (2017)
• Barnes v. Felix · 605 U.S. 73 (2025)
• Lange v. California · 594 U.S. 295 (2021)
• California v. Hodari D. · 499 U.S. 621 (1991)
• Plumhoff v. Rickard · 572 U.S. 765 (2014)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)
• United States v. Booker · 543 U.S. 220 (2005)
• Tolan v. Cotton · 572 U.S. 650 (2014)
• Hernandez v. Mesa · 582 U.S. 548 (2017)
• Torres v. Madrid · 592 U.S. 306 (2021)
• Kentucky v. Graham · 473 U.S. 159 (1985)
• City of Canton v. Harris · 489 U.S. 378 (1989)
• Whren v. United States · 517 U.S. 806 (1996)
• Albright v. Oliver · 510 U.S. 266 (1994)
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld · 542 U.S. 507 (2004)
• National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab · 489 U.S. 656 (1989)
• United States v. Montoya De Hernandez · 473 U.S. 531 (1985)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc. · 472 U.S. 491 (1985)
• United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez · 494 U.S. 259 (1990)
• Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna · 595 U.S. 1 (2021)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).