Giselle Higuera, Administrator for the Estate of Anthony Alvarez and as mother of A.A., a minor v. City of Chicago, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied Giselle Higuera’s motion for reconsideration in an excessive-force and related civil-rights action arising from the fatal police shooting of Anthony Alvarez. The court held that Barnes v. Felix did not alter the Seventh Circuit’s totality-of-the-circumstances approach or establish that a pre-seizure foot chase could independently support an excessive-force claim. The court also declined to revisit its rulings concerning the Monell claim and bifurcation of discovery.

Holdings

1. Barnes v. Felix did not require reconsideration because it addressed the time period relevant to evaluating the reasonableness of a seizure, not what constitutes a seizure. A foot chase without physical force or submission to authority is not a seizure and, standing alone, cannot support a Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim.
2. Barnes v. Felix did not require reconsideration of the Monell claim because Barnes addressed the time period applicable to an excessive-force claim and did not address municipal liability under Monell.
3. Reconsideration of the bifurcation ruling was denied because Higuera merely repeated arguments previously heard and rejected and identified no new basis for reconsideration.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court's decision in Barnes v. Felix required reconsideration of the dismissal of the excessive-force claim against Officer Encarnacion.
2. Whether Barnes v. Felix required reconsideration of the Monell claim concerning the City's alleged widespread practice of failing to discipline officers.
3. Whether the court should reconsider its prior order bifurcating discovery concerning the Monell claim.

Disposition

other