Timothy Scott v. Victor Harris

Decided April 30, 2007. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 05-1631 · 550 U.S. 372 (2007) · Cited 13,305 times

Holding

Because the car chase respondent initiated posed a substantial and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others, Scott’s attempt to terminate the chase by forcing respondent off the road was reasonable, and Scott is entitled to summary judgment.

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 8–1.

“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.

• Tennessee v. Garner · 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Brower Ex Rel. Estate of Caldwell v. County of Inyo · 489 U.S. 593 (1989)
• County of Sacramento v. Lewis · 523 U.S. 833 (1998)
• Graham v. Connor · 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Brosseau v. Haugen · 543 U.S. 194 (2004)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. · 477 U.S. 242 (1986)
• Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · 475 U.S. 574 (1986)
• United States v. Diebold, Inc. · 369 U.S. 654 (1962)
• United States v. Place · 462 U.S. 696 (1983)
• Hunter v. Bryant · 502 U.S. 224 (1991)
• Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. McLaughlin · 323 U.S. 101 (1944)
• United States v. National Treasury Employees Union · 513 U.S. 454 (1995)

Cited by

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

• Plumhoff v. Rickard · 572 U.S. 765 (2014)
• Mullenix v. Luna · 577 U.S. 7 (2015)
• Ricci v. DeStefano · 557 U.S. 557 (2009)
• Intel Corp. Investment Policy Comm. v. Sulyma · 589 U.S. 178 (2020)
• Barnes v. Felix · 605 U.S. 73 (2025)
• Biestek v. Berryhill · 587 U.S. 97 (2019)
• Kisela v. Hughes · 584 U.S. 100 (2018)
• City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan · 575 U.S. 600 (2015)
• Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. · 575 U.S. 206 (2015)
• Lange v. California · 594 U.S. 295 (2021)
• Pearson v. Callahan · 555 U.S. 223 (2009)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Torres v. Madrid · 592 U.S. 306 (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 (2007). 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).