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Terry V Ohio

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In Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1 (1968), the court considered whether police, in the absence of probable cause, can stop, question, or frisk an individual. The case proposed that in order to stop someone for questioning, the Police must have a reasonable suspicion that the person is about to commit or has already committed a crime. If after someone has been stopped, the police want frisk a suspect for weapons, they need to have reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and threatening.
The Court recognized that the Fourth Amendment protects the right of every individual to the possession and control of his own person. At the same time, it recognized that in certain circumstances, public safety might require a limited "seizure," or stop, of an individual against his will. The Court consequently set forth conditions circumscribing when and how the police might conduct a Terry stop. They include what has become known as the "reasonable suspicion" standard. 392 U. S., at 20-22. Justice White, in a separate concurring opinion, set forth further conditions. Justice White wrote: "Of course, the person stopped is not obliged to answer, answers may not be compelled, and refusal to answer furnishes no basis for an arrest, although it may alert the officer to the need for continued observation." Id., at 34.

After Terry v. Ohio case, police officers only needed reasonable suspicion to search a person for weapons. However, the search is strictly limited to weapons. The case did not do much to change law enforcement or policing. It did, however, codify law enforcement officer's rights to self-protection during citizen 'contacts or stops for "reasonable suspicion" only.

Police are entitled to search a suspect based on reasonable suspicion rather than the much higher standard of probable cause. A police officer now has the right to detain and search any individual, without

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