The Supreme Court debated Monday whether the police have a duty to avoid violent confrontations with mentally ill suspects whenever possible.
The case of a San Francisco woman with a known mental illness who was shot inside her home by a police officer prompted the justices to reconsider the rules for such arrests.
The 4th Amendment forbids "unreasonable searches and seizures" by the police. In the San Francisco case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the officers also could be sued for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But government lawyers say police officers should be shielded from second-guessing when they have to arrest people who are violent and dangerous.
The case began in 2008 when two officers were called to a group home in San Francisco. Teresa Sheehan, who was in her mid-50s, had a mental illness and was living in her own unit. She had threatened a social worker who visited her.
The two officers broke into her apartment without a warning, and Sheehan grabbed a kitchen knife and told them to leave.
The officers retreated to the hallway. A few minutes later, without waiting for backup help, they pushed back into her apartment. When Sheehan came at them with a knife, one officer shot her five times.
She survived and later sued the officers, saying they made an unreasonable break-in without a search warrant and failed to accommodate for the fact that she had a mental illness.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, the younger brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, ruled for the police and dismissed the suit. But the 9th Circuit revived her claim and said it should go to a jury.
The appellate judges said the second entry by the police could be considered unreasonable, since the officers knew the woman was angry and had a knife, and the police could have waited for her to calm down. The appeals court also said the disability-rights law generally requires officials to make reasonable accommodations where possible when encountering people with a mental illness.
Lawyers for San Francisco and the U.S. Justice Department urged the high court to shield the police from such suits.
On Twitter: @DavidGSavage
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