Also known as: physical force · defense of a person · self-defense · defense of others · justifiable force
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A justification permitting a person to use a reasonable degree of physical force upon another to defend the person or a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force by such other person.
Pierre Poulin stood in the doorway of a storage room and told Pamela Phillips she could not leave until she answered his questions about a missing item. Pamela remained inside because she believed Poulin would immediately grab and restrain her if she tried to pass. The threat of immediate physical force kept her confined without any actual touching.
Portia Price fled when an officer ordered her to stop on the sidewalk. The officer chased her for two blocks but never touched her or blocked her path. Price kept running and was never seized during the pursuit alone.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Phoebe Park saw Pierce Patterson raise his hand during an argument and honestly believed he would strike her with deadly force. She stabbed him in response. Because her belief was unreasonable, the charge reduced from murder to voluntary manslaughter rather than resulting in acquittal.
Priya Prasad was pinned against a wall by an aggressor who used overpowering strength to prevent her from leaving the room. She stopped struggling and remained in place because she could not overcome the physical force. The confinement occurred through submission to that force.
Patriot Insurance employee Pamela Phillips kept a handgun in her nightstand for protection after repeated threats at her apartment. A total ban preventing her from having the gun operable for immediate self-defense in the home was struck down as unconstitutional.
Pierce Patterson held Pamela Phillips's child and threatened to harm the child unless she stayed in the room. She remained because the duress made her consent to confinement ineffective. The confinement resulted from submission to that non-physical duress.
Yes. The statute requires that the person reasonably believe the force is necessary to defend against imminent unlawful force. An unreasonable belief may support mitigation in some jurisdictions but does not provide a complete justification.
Yes. The justification extends to defending a third person when the actor reasonably believes that person faces imminent unlawful force. The same reasonableness and imminence requirements apply.
In some jurisdictions an honest but unreasonable belief that deadly force is necessary mitigates murder to voluntary manslaughter. The killing is still criminal but the grade is reduced because of the imperfect justification.
No. Mere words or insults do not constitute adequate provocation or imminent unlawful force sufficient to justify physical force. The force used must respond to a reasonable belief in imminent physical attack.
…confessions.[^maj-6] The Commission on Civil Rights in 1961 found much evidence to indicate that "some policemen still resort to physical force to obtain confessions," 1961 Comm'n on Civil Rights Rep., Justice, pt. 5, 17. The use of physical brutality and violence is not, unfortunately, relegated to the past or to any part of the…