NCJ Number
119001
Date Published
1989
Length
4 pages
Annotation
In the 1968 case, Terry v. Ohio, the U.S. Supreme Court held that police may lawfully stop and detain a person suspected of engaging in criminal activity or of being about to engage in such activity - even though there is no probable cause to support such a belief.
Abstract
This type of detention has been called an investigatory stop - and must be supported by reasonable suspicion that crime is afoot - or is in the process of becoming afoot. In the case U.S. v. Sokolow, a drug suspect was stopped in the Honolulu airport under suspicion of smuggling drugs. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents made the investigatory stop because the defendant carried a lot of cash, appeared nervous, checked none of his baggage, traveled under an assumed name, and stayed a short time in Miami after a 20-hour trip from Hawaii. The lower court's ruling was that the DEA agents did not have a reasonable suspicion to stop the respondent, as required by the Fourth Amendment.