Judge Higginbotham Drills Down on ‘Impermissible Gloss’ of Court’s ‘Moment of Threat Doctrine’ in Qualified Immunity Case

A Fifth Circuit judge on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against an officer who shot and killed a man during a traffic stop. He also called on his colleagues, or the U.S. Supreme Court, to revisit the doctrine underpinning the ruling: the so-called “moment of threat doctrine.”

Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham authored both the panel opinion and a concurrence in the case brought by the parents of Ashtian Barnes, who was shot and killed in April 2016 after being stopped by Officer Roberto Felix Jr. of the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office.