About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


28 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 87 (2019)
The Terry Dilemma: A Game Theoretic Analysis of Qualified Immunity for Police Officers

handle is hein.journals/bupi28 and id is 93 raw text is: THE TERRY DILEMMA: A GAME THEORETIC ANALYSIS OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY FOR POLICE OFFICERS SUZANNE BARTH* I. INTRODUCTION................................................. 87 II. LEGAL BACKGROUND..................................... 88 A. The Birth of the Terry Stop................... 88 B. The Civil Action for Damages.................... 90 C. Qualified Immunity ............................... 91 D. Thomas v. Dillard........................... 96 III. ECONOMIC BACKGROUND...................................... 99 IV. MODEL 1: THE TERRYDILEMMA .................................... 101 A. The Suspect's Considerations: Criminal Liability, Physical Safety, and the Fourth Amendment ........................ 102 B. The Police Officer's Considerations: Physical Safety, Dominance, and Liability.. .................. ....... 105 C. The Terry Dilemma's Nash Equilibrium and Social Optimum. 108 1. The Fourth Amendment as a Public Good ..... ...... 108 2. Qualified Immunity and Police Officer Incentives........... 110 V. CONCLUSION ................................................ 112 VI. APPENDIX ............................................ ...... 114 I. INTRODUCTION The 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, ignited a dialogue about police violence against people of color in the United States and helped launch the Black Lives Matter movement.' The resultant movement against police violence raised questions about how to better hold officers accountable for offenses committed against innocent J.D. Candidate, Boston University School of Law, 2019; B.A., Economics and Sociology, cum laude, Wellesley College, 2016. Thanks to Jill Kingsbury, Professor Keith Hylton, and the Public Interest Law Journal staff for their insight and assistance. 1 Wesley Lowery, Black Lives Matter: Birth of a Movement, THE GUARDIAN (Jan. 17, 2017), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/17/black-lives-matter-birth-of-a- movement. 87