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Resisting Unlawful Arrest: A Due Process Perspective, Penn Lerblance

Cleveland State Law Review

To resist arrest is a crime. But is it a crime if the arrest resisted is unlawful? More particularly, is a lawful arrest an issue in a trial for resisting arrest? This inquiry invokes the constitutional due process problem of proof illustrated in Hoover v. Garfield Heights Municipal Court, decided in September 1986 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Section II discusses the Hoover case, and then Section III delves into the issue of a right to resist an unlawful arrest. Section IV explains that an unlawful arrest is authorized when there is a legislative …