Terry v. Ohio

By an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the stop and frisk practice. Though it was determined that Officer McFadden did not in fact have "probable cause" for a full search, the Court made an important distinction between a "stop and frisk" search and a full search. A frisk was deemed to be "an intrusion upon the sanctity of the person" and bound by Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment protections. However, it was ruled to be justified in an attempt to locate concealed weapons. Chief Justice Warren wrote the opinion for the majority:

We conclude that the revolver seized from Terry was properly admitted in evidence against him. At the time he seized petitioner and searched him for weapons, Officer McFadden had reasonable grounds to believe that petitioner was armed and dangerous, and it was necessary for the protection of himself and others to take swift measures to discover the true facts and neutralize the threat of harm if it materialized. The policeman carefully restricted his search to what was appropriate to the discovery of the particular items which he sought. Each case will, of course, have to be decided on its own facts. We merely hold today that where a police officer observes unusual conduct which leads him reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous, where in the course of investigating this behavior he identifies himself as a policeman and makes reasonable inquiries, and where nothing in the initial stages of the encounter serves to dispel his reasonable fear for his own or other's safety, he is entitled for the protection of himself and others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might have been used to assault him.

In his dissent, Justice Douglas argued that McFadden had to have had probable cause to believe that Terry was carrying a weapon before performing the stop and frisk. Despite his objections, however, the "Terry type search" became the standard by which police officers could measure the lawfulness of searches performed without obtaining a warrant.