Other Free Encyclopedias » Law Library - American Law and Legal Information » Notable Trials and Court Cases - 1963 to 1972

Adams v. Williams - Significance, Protective Searches For Weapons Are Permissible, A Dangerous Extension Of Terry, Impact

officer amendment fourth petitioner

Petitioner

Frederick E. Adams

Respondent

Robert Williams

Petitioner's Claim

That a police officer does not violate the Fourth Amendment by reaching in to a car window and removing a gun from the waistband of a driver when the officer has reason to believe that the suspect is armed and dangerous.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Donald A. Browne

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Edward F. Hennessey III

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

12 June 1972

Decision

As long as an officer is permitted to make a forcible traffic stop to investigate evidence of wrongdoing, the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the officer from conducting a limited search for weapons so that he may safely pursue his investigation when the officer has reason to believe that the suspect is armed and dangerous.

Related Cases

  • Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968).
  • Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692 (1981).
  • Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366 (1993).

Further Readings

  • Dressler, Joshua. Understanding Criminal Procedure. New York: Matthew Bender & Co., 1991.
  • LaFave, Wayne R. Search and Seizure: A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment, 3rd ed. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1996.
  • Project on Law Enforcement Policy and Rulemaking. Stop and Frisk. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University College of Law, 1974.

Additional Topics

Adams v. Williams - Significance

The Court's decision gave officers significantly increased powers in pursuing investigations and frisking suspects for weapons. It extended the circumstances in which police officers may stop and frisk a person for weapons. More importantly, the Court's decision was the first step in a series of cases expanding the situations in which a police officer may conduct a search of a person without first…

Adams v. Williams - Protective Searches For Weapons Are Permissible

On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals, concluding that the police officer's search of Williams was a reasonable protective search under its decision in Terry v. Ohio. As the Court explained, Terry held that a police officer may stop a person to investigate if the officer has a reasonable suspicion to believe that the person is committing a crime. The Fourth Amendment, which pr…

Adams v. Williams - A Dangerous Extension Of Terry

Justices Douglas, Brennan, and Marshall, dissenting from the Court's opinion, decried the Court's extension of Terry. The dissenting justices first thought that the informant's uncorroborated tip was insufficient to give the officer a reasonable suspicion that Williams was in possession of a gun. Justice Marshall distinguished the search allowed in Terry because, in that case, the officer acted ba…

Adams v. Williams - Impact

Adderley v. Florida - Significance, Impact, Further Readings [next] [back] Abington School District v. Schempp - Significance, Court Articulates A Test For Establishment Clause Questions, Reading The Bible In Public School

User Comments

Your email address will be altered so spam harvesting bots can't read it easily.
Hide my email completely instead?

Cancel or