Russ v. Watts
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
414 F.3d 783 (2005)
- Written by Miller Jozwiak, JD
Facts
Robert Russ was driving home from college to his mother’s home around 1:00 a.m. A police officer attempted to pull over Russ, but Russ did not stop the car. A police chase ensued involving multiple officers (the officers) (defendants). The chase ended when Russ collided with police vehicles. The officers surrounded Russ with their weapons drawn. One officer broke a car window and fired, killing Russ. Russ’s baby, through the baby’s mother, filed a state tort action against the officer, which resulted in a multimillion-dollar verdict. Russ’s parents (the parents) (plaintiffs) attempted to be involved as parties in that lawsuit, but their efforts failed. The parents then filed a second, federal lawsuit against the officers for, among other things, violating their constitutional right to associate with their son. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the officers, reasoning that the parents did not have standing to bring the claim. The parents appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Flaum, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
