Terry V. Ohio Case Study

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In Terry v. Ohio (1968), Terry and two other men were noticed by police officers to be hanging around a store, and seemed to possibly be “casing a job.” They were afraid the men might be getting ready to rob the store, due to their appearance and their actions. An officer stopped the men and frisked them. They found guns on them, and arrested them (Oyez, n.d.). The controversy in this case was did the search and seizure of Terry and the men he was with violate the Fourth Amendment? This case tried to determine the role of the Fourth Amendment when police are investigating suspicious circumstances on the street, and when there is probable cause to search someone that is displaying questionable behavior (Justia, n.d.). The amendment involved in this case was the Fourth Amendment due to the protection of unreasonable search …show more content…

Ohio was a landmark case that helped give officers the power they need to stop and search (frisk) an individual(s) that is exhibiting suspicious behavior that may put a community at risk of a crime. If the officer can articulate a clear, and sound reason why he stopped and frisked the individual, the stop is considered legally valid and any evidence that was obtained will be admitted to the court. On the contrary, any stop and frisk policies that are administered without having a clear, sound reason for stopping an individual, and may resemble racial profiling, is unconstitutional, and is not considered legally valid and any evidence obtained will not be allowed into the court. Juvenile cases are handled very differently from adult cases in court, and the focus of juvenile cases is rehabilitation, whereas, the focus of adult cases is on punishment. The court has long believed that juveniles are still developing, and they should be able to be rehabilitated with the right help. Therefore, instead of spending time in jail, many juveniles receive an alternative punishment such as probation, community service, or

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