Terry v. Ohio

Petitioner

Terry

Respondent

State of Ohio

Petitioner's Claim

That the "stop and frisk" actions of police officer Martin McFadden constituted an unreasonable search and seizure.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Louis Stokes

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Reuben M. Payne

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., Abe Fortas, John Marshall Harlan II, Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, Earl Warren (writing for the Court), Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William O. Douglas

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

10 June 1968

Decision

A police officer may stop a person and perform a limited weapons patdown if the officer has observed suspicious behavior which would justify making such an examination.

Related Cases

• Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914).
• Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961).
• Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).
• Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967).
• Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032 (1983).

Sources

Levy, Leonard W., ed. Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. New York: Macmillan, 1986.

Further Readings

• Chandler, Ralph C. The Constitutional Law Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1987.
• Cushman, Robert F. Cases in Constitutional Law. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.
• Ducat, Craig R., and Harold W. Chase. Constitutional Interpretation. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company, 1988.
• Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. New York: Macmillan, 1986.