History Of The Stop And Frisk Case

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The case between Terry and the state of Ohio presented major concern for the Fourth Amendment which deals with unreasonable searches and seizure without a warrant. On October 31, 1963, Officer McFadden stopped and searched John W. Terry, Richard Chilton, and another individual for weapons during a night in the state of Ohio because he suspected that they were planning on robbing a store because they kept walking up and down in front of the store. The officer approached them announcing that he was a police officer and decided to search them for weapons for his own safety. The officer soon found out that Terry and Richard Chilton both had a concealed weapon with them and he confiscated the guns and both were taken into custody. The third individual …show more content…

Terry which he claimed that his Fourth Amendment which protects all citizens from unreasonable search without a warrant was violated from the moment the officer searched him. Terry appealed the case to the Supreme Court in 1967. The case came also to be known as the “stop and frisk” case. The reason why the name was given is because the officers are only allowed to frisk suspects not search them. The differences between a pat down and a search is that in a pat down, the officer can only pad the individual for hard items they may have inside their pockets. The pat down is mainly to know if the suspect is carrying any weapon that they can use to harm the officer or any other person. Searching a suspect is a little different because that includes a thorough search like checking what is inside a purse or wallet. During a search, an officer could inspect soft things in the pockets of the individual like a small bag of drugs. During a pat down, the officer is not permitted to inspect soft items inside an individual’s pocket. The case collides with the protection that the Fourth Amendment provides us from unreasonable search with no warrant and the prevention of crimes. In 1968, the Supreme Court affirmed that police officers are allowed to pat and frisk individual without probable cause for an arrest. It expands the authority of the police officer to examine crimes before they happen without reasonable basis for suspicious. This decision ensures

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