Terry vs. Ohio

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Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures is not violated when a police officer stops a suspect on the street and searches him without probable cause to arrest, if the police officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime.

Does OC constitute, or give LEO the resonable suspicion that a crime is about to be commited? Can they use it as a loophole?

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In Florida v. J.L., SCOTUS held that a stop and search is not justified unless the police witness unlawful behavior. When having a gun is not generally unlawful, it cannot give rise to a reasonable belief that crime is afoot.

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KBCraig wrote:

In Florida v. J.L., SCOTUS held that a stop and search is not justified unless the police witness unlawful behavior. When having a gun is not generally unlawful, it cannot give rise to a reasonable belief that crime is afoot.

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I know JSlack isn't from Minnesota, but in Minnesota, we can't depend on Florida v. J.L. The Minnesota Supreme Court found that possession of a gun in public is generally unlawful and that the permit to carry a pistol is an exception to the statute. Therefore, police in Minnesota are free to stop anyone carrying a firearm to determine if they have a permit.

State v. Timberlake, 744 N.W.2d 390, 394 (Mn. 2008) at
http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/archive/ctappub/0701/opa060072-0116.htm

DJ

Edited to add the citation for the Minnesota case.

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KBCraig wrote:

SNIP In Florida v. J.L., SCOTUS held that a stop and search is not justified unless the police witness unlawful behavior.

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Huh? That's not the Florida vs JL that I read.

Here is the relevant part of that case with regard to this thread:

...A second major argument advanced by[the government]is, in essence, that the standard Terry analysis should be modified to license a "firearm exception." Under such an exception, a tip alleging an illegal gun would justify a stop and frisk even if the accusation would fail standard pre-search reliability testing. We decline to adopt this position...

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0529_0266_ZO.html

Thus the court expressly declined to adopt a "firearm exception" to the standard Terry analysis. Since the standard Terry analysis allows a police officer to search for and seize guns under certain circumstances, the position refused must be referring to another aspect of the Terry analysis--the part about detaining people only if the officer has reasonable articulable suspicion of a crime..