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Deadly force, also known as lethal force, is the use of force that is likely to cause serious bodily injury or death to another person. In most jurisdictions, the use of deadly force is justified only under conditions of extreme necessity as a last resort , when all lesser means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed.
Whether a jurisdiction follows stand-your-ground or duty-to-retreat is just one element of its self-defense laws. Different jurisdictions allow deadly force against different crimes. All American states allow it against prior deadly force, great bodily injury, and likely kidnapping or rape; some also allow it against threat of robbery and burglary.
"A person who is justified in using nondeadly force in self-defense may use deadly force in self-defense upon another person when and to the extent, the person reasonably believes the use of deadly force is necessary for self-defense against death; serious physical injury; kidnapping except for what is described as custodial interference in the ...
Over the past 30 years, a majority of states have enacted “stand your ground” laws that allow deadly force to be used even when other options might be available.
Experts say the police shootings, two of hundreds across the U.S. each year, underscore the prevalent use of deadly force by law enforcement despite widespread de-escalation standards.
Under the new law, one needn’t try to escape from a threat before using (even deadly) force to repel that threat, and there are legal and administrative protections for people who are found to ...
Under U.S. law the fleeing felon rule was limited in 1985 to non-lethal force in most cases by Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1.The justices held that deadly force "may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or others."
Under the common law rule and the rule in a minority of states, the actor must have shown that he or she retreated prior to using deadly force unless: 1) it was not safe to retreat; or 2) the incident occurred at the actor's home. [14] In addition, the Model Penal Code requires retreat or compliance, if it can be done with complete safety. [15]