Ulysses Lee Feagin v. Mansfield Police Department, et al.

Our adversarial system “rel[ies] on the parties to frame the issues for decision.” United States v. Sineneng-Smith, 590 U.S. 371, 375 (2020) (quotation marks omitted). Courts “do not, or should not, sally forth each day looking for wrongs to right.” Id. at 376 (quotation marks omitted). Here, the district court found a genuine dispute of material fact about whether Petitioner was actively resisting arrest when he was tased, precluding a grant of qualified immunity to Respondents. Respondents argued on appeal that the district court had erred because non-video evidence (namely, the officers’ affidavits and police reports) conclusively demonstrated that Petitioner was actively resisting arrest. The Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction over this argument under Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 313 (1995). The Court of Appeals nonetheless reversed the district court on other grounds, relying on its independent review of the record. The question presented is: Whether the Court of Appeals violated the partypresentation principle by reversing the district court on grounds never raised, and in fact affirmatively disavowed, by Respondents?