Brett Kavanaugh Just Gave a Gratuitous Win to Cops Who Kill

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit had invented a rule that narrowed vision to a sliver of time, a doctrine it called the “moment of threat’s” doctrine.

The Supreme Court struck down the moment-of-threat doctrine on Thursday , but it left another question: whether an officer's reckless actions that create or escalate a dangerous situation can render their use of deadly force unreasonable.

Frida Ghitis : Justice Brett Kavanaugh 's concurrence in Barnes v. Felix is a prism that bends reality to fit a single truth: The officer’s fear is always justified, Ghitis says.

She says it's only a matter of time before the Supreme Court is asked to decide whether an officer can manufacture the danger they later use to justify force, including force that turns deadly.

Ghitis writes of dangers officers face but never asks why many Black Americans flee.

Four justices went out of their way to speak for police, to tell a story of fear, to plant a flag for a future in which officer anxiety becomes the measure of reasonableness.

The totality-of-the-circumstances test has always required courts to consider the officer’s perspective.