A police shooting case that first mustered only a one-paragraph ruling from a federal appeals panel has now prompted a vigorous debate over the limits on police conduct and—to some—gun rights. At issue is a lawsuit against a Florida sheriff’s deputy who admits he shot to death an innocent man as he opened his front door holding a gun. A district court held that the deputy didn’t violate the man’s constitutional rights because the deputy reasonably presumed that the man posed a threat.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit summarily upheld the district court ruling in 2015. Last week, a majority of the full court rejected the plaintiffs’ request for a rehearing.
