Handcuffing 7-Year-Old at School Didn’t Violate Fourth Amendment

A police officer didn’t violate a seven-year-old’s constitutional rights by handcuffing him during an in-school outburst and failing to remove the handcuffs once the child calmed down, a federal appeals court said Aug. 1.

Officer Brandon Craddock didn’t unreasonably seize or use excessive force on K.W.P. in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said. Additionally, Principal Anne Wallace couldn’t be held liable for approving the seizure by failing to order Craddock to remove the cuffs once K.W.P. was in her office.

K.W.P. attended elementary school in the Kansas City Public School system. ...