Reasonable suspicion

Issue: Whether Mr. Howard’s 4th Amendment rights were violated when he was stopped and frisked by officers whose only basis for such a stop was an anonymous phone tip? Facts: Our client, Happy Howard, was carrying a concealed weapon while out at a festival. Upon raising his elbow, another citizen noticed the concealed gun and made an anonymous phone tip to the police. The anonymous tipster gave Mr. Howard’s description as a white male, standing at a height of 5’10”, and that he was wearing…

to stop and frisk subjects who seem suspect. In the case Terry v. Ohio (1968) the Supreme Court’s ruling allowed the procedures of “Stop and Frisk” to be acceptable. For a stop and first to be considered legal, the police officer must have reasonable suspicion that a crime has already occurred or is about to take place. Only then can a police officer start a line of questioning toward the suspect. However, the “frisk” portion of stop and frisk must only be done if the police officer suspects the…

that, “… police officers used traffic violations as a pretext to stop a car and investigate possible drug offenses; the officers had neither probable cause nor reasonable suspicion to stop the driver for narcotics crime” (Harris 544). No probable cause or reasonable suspicion was shown to stop the driver, who was Black. The officer was suspicions of the driver having drugs in his car because of his race and thus can be concluded that it was a pretext…

The search was reasonable, and the court ruled that the actions did not violate the Fourth Amendment. However, Justice Brennan believed that the school administrator’s actions violated T.L.O. rights, and the evidence from the unlawful search should be ridden off. From a policy standpoint, this case is very crucial. T.L.O. v New Jersey has had a very important impact on criminal justice policy and practitioners. The Supreme Court’s decision in T.L.O. established “reasonable suspicion” for…

Supreme Court in the 1968 Terry v. Ohio decision as a temporary detention of a person about whom the officer has reasonable suspicion that he or she is committing or may be about to commit a crime.” (107-108) Due to the nature of stop and frisks, that being the need for only reasonable suspicion, problems with this tactic are bound to arise. The first problem, similar to most tactics the police try to employ, does it actually reduce crime in a meaningful…

how it prohibits unreasonable search and seizures. Probable cause is when an officer has reasonable facts that a crime has occurred or is about to occur, it can’t just be a suspicion. To arrest someone without a warrant the officer must have probable cause before he even approaches the suspect. The police cannot just have a suspicion and arrest or search you, even if they later find out that there suspicion was right like finding something illegal. This means probable cause is not outcome…

environment the consequences for error in police performance or executive decision making have become increasingly severe.” The media shows a lot of police brutality against African Americans, so this incident is no different. Did Officer Smith have reasonable suspicion to make the initial stop…

these common law powers. Section 3(4) of the Criminal Law Act of Trinidad and Tobago Chap 10:04 states “where a police officer with reasonable cause, suspects that an arrestable offence has been committed, he may arrest without warrant anyone whom he, with reasonable cause, suspects to be guilty of the offence.” A key element is that the officer must have reasonable cause for his belief. Section 3 (5) also empowers officers to arrest without warrant if they believe an arrestable offence “is…

to detain, question, and investigate suspected drug couriers. The case involved a Terry stop at an international airport, during which the defendant aroused suspicion by conforming to a controversial "drug courier profile" developed by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The Court said that the DEA profile gave the officer reasonable suspicion, "which is more than a mere hunch, but less than probable cause."Stop and Frisk." TheFreeDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2016. The trend of police…

The athlete must then sign a document acknowledging the fact he/she was notified, and consent to the drug test, which must be taken within 24 hours following the notification. The testing program includes random testing throughout the year and/or reasonable…