SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of emotionally charged cases involving unarmed women being stunned with police Tasers after committing nominal infractions, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals delivered an en banc ruling Monday that doesn’t fully satisfy either side.
In each instance, a majority of the judges said the women — one of whom was pregnant — suffered excessive force, but the court unanimously held that the officers in both cases were entitled to qualified immunity because case law at the time didn’t clearly say the conduct would violate the Fourth Amendment.
