TERRY V. OHIO was a landmark decision in the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court ruled that under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, a police officer may stop a suspect on the street and frisk him or her 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 and has a reasonable belief that the person "may be armed and presently dangerous." The Terry case occurred in Cleveland October 31, 1963. A policeman named Martin McFadden was patrolling through downtown Cleveland when he witnessed two men who seemed as if they were casing a store. Finding this behavior suspicious, McFadden grabbed the two men, John Terry and Richard Chilton, and patted them down only to find pistols in both of their jackets. McFadden arrested both of them for illegally carrying concealed weapons. At trial, Terry’s lawyer argued that the method of obtaining the weapon was a violation of his client’s 4th amendment rights. During this time, stop and frisk was presumed legal, and the judge convicted Terry. Terry appealed until the case appeared in the Supreme Court of the United States, where it was confirmed that stop and frisk was not in violation of the 4th amendment.
Vinod Sardesai