Say His Name! Xzavier Hill: Analyzing Subjective Perception, Reasonableness, and Qualified Immunity in the Use of Deadly Force

• In Event: Roundtable: Critiquing the Influence of Race, Perception, Violence, and Fear on Victimization in Marginalized Community Encounters

Abstract

This paper utilizes an ethnomethodological approach to analyze the case of Xzavier Hill to explore how the experiences, perceptions, and interactions between law enforcement and African American males influence the decision to choose the use of deadly force in racialized policing encounters. Through an analysis of the court proceedings in the case of LaToya Benton v. Seth Layton, this study engages a theoretical and observational analysis of how historical stereotypes of Black male criminality shape subjective perceptions of imminent threat at each level of criminal-legal contact, thereby affecting how the courts apply and interpret the "reasonableness" prongs of qualified immunity in a Black mother's quest for "justice."

Author

• Zoe Spencer Harris, Virginia State University