There have been many changes happening around The Law Offices of James M. Linehan recently! We are excited to announce that there are two new interns in the office. Zach Weigel is a 2020 Law School Graduate who passed the Ohio Bar Examination in December of last year and is now helping us around the office. Grace Dunn is a rising second-year law student at Capital University Law School and the newest intern at the office. She has just finished her first week interning at the Columbus Firm and is learning more and more each day! They cannot wait to greet you as you walk into the door to the firm!

For more information regarding the new faces in the office, please check out the ‘Meet Us’ tab at the top of our website.

The Law Offices of James M. Linehan is also excited to have a busy summer filled with volunteer opportunities and networking. As COVID-19 is finally winding down and things are beginning to open back up, we are so excited to get back out into the community! We are looking forward to participating in various activities around Franklin County and Fairfield County this summer. Be sure to visit our Facebook page to stay tuned on the new and exciting things happening at the firm!

Amid the increasing national attention surrounding police violence, the Supreme Court issued an opinion on March 25th that clarifies the meaning of “seizure” under the Fourth Amendment.

The case, Torris v. Madrid, gained attention after a New Mexico woman was shot by police as she drove away from an investigation. The woman later sued, arguing that her constitutional rights were violated because the police committed an unreasonable seizure.

The question was whether a seizure occurs when an officer shoots someone who temporarily eludes capture after the shooting. The answer: YES.

This is interesting because the police did not immediately detain the woman after shooting her. However, the Supreme Court still held that this was considered a seizure.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday, holding that it was a seizure and said that “the application of physical force to the body of a person with intent to restrain is a seizure, even if the force does not succeed in subduing the person.”

Divided court issues bright-line ruling on Fourth Amendment seizures

The opinion offers two surprises:

The majority gave a broad holding and goes out of its way to craft a clear bright-line rule that goes beyond the facts of this case.
The Court announced the rule and stated that: “We hold that the application of physical force to the body of a person with intent to restrain is a seizure even if the person does not submit and is not subdued.”

This captures any touching at all.

The Court was extremely divided on the subject.
Not only was there a 26-page dissent (9 more than the majority opinion), but the dissenting judges held that neither the Constitution nor common sense supports the majority’s definition of a seizure.

More specifically, Justice Gorsuch cast the majority opinion “as mistaken as it is novel.” As he put it, the court ruled that it’s a seizure “even if the suspect refuses to stop, evades capture, and rides off into the sunset never to be seen again.”

What are your thoughts?

The Law Offices of James M. Linehan was established by Managing Attorney James M. Linehan to assist clients in the Lancaster, Ohio community with Adoptions, Criminal Defense and OVI claims, Family Law Matters, and in Personal Injury cases.

With over thirty years of experience, James decided to expand his practice and open an office in Columbus, Ohio. With help from his Legal Assistant, Liz Kemmerer, and his son, Daniel Picketts, as his law clerk, the practice has grown substantially since then. In the Spring of 2020, James further grew his practice by hiring on Associate Attorney Amanda Gallant to the Firm.

Additionally, new and exciting things are happening for the Firm. Daniel will be taking the Ohio Bar Examination in July and returning to the Firm as an Associate Attorney upon being successful on the Bar. Further, new Law Clerk Taylor Baecker will be accompanying Daniel in taking the Bar Examination this July.

With many exciting things to come, the Law Offices of James M. Linehan is excited to continue to offer clients excellent legal representation throughout the duration of their case. Look out for new and returning faces in the coming months!