Cite as: 533 U. S. 194 (2001)
Ginsburg, J., concurring in judgment
Court cautioned, "even if it may later seem unnecessary in the peace of a judge's chambers, violates the Fourth Amendment." Ibid. (citation omitted). "The calculus of reasonableness" must allow for the reality that "police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments" about the force a particular situation warrants "in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving." Id., at 396-397.
Under Graham's instructions, the question in this case is whether officer Saucier, in light of the facts and circumstances confronting him, could have reasonably believed he acted lawfully. Here, as in the mine run of excessive force cases, no inquiry more complex than that is warranted.
Inspecting this case under Graham's lens, and without doubling the "objectively reasonable" inquiry, I agree that Katz's submissions were too slim to put officer Saucier to the burden of trial. As the Court points out, it is not genuinely in doubt that "[a] reasonable officer in [Saucier's] position could have believed that hurrying [Katz] away from the scene . . . was within the bounds of appropriate police responses." Ante, at 208. Katz's excessive force claim thus depended on the "gratuitously violent shove" he allegedly received. Ibid.; see Brief for Respondents 3, n. 2 (conceding that "the gratuitous violent shove" was essential to Katz's excessive force claim).
Yet Katz failed to proffer proof, after pretrial discovery, that Saucier, as distinguished from his fellow officer Parker,1 had a hand in the allegedly violent shove.2 Saucier, in his
1 Though named as a defendant, Parker was never served with the complaint, and therefore did not become a party to this litigation. See Brief for Petitioner 3, n. 4.
2 See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 56(e) ("When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this rule, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleading, but the adverse party's response . . . must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.").
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