In Terry v Ohio (1962) (http://laws.findlaw.com/us/392/1.html), the U.S. Supreme Court, for the first time, approved a search and seizure based on less than probable cause. Read the majority opinion. Are you satisfied with the majority's dismissal of the arguments against allowing the police on doing this (e.g., increasing tension with minority communities)? Read Justice Douglas's dissent. Numerous searches and seizures based on less than probable cause, and even suspicion-less searches and seizures, have been approved since (and based in part on) Terry and its progeny. Was allowing searches and seizures on less than probable cause a serious blow to Fourth Amendment freedoms? Should the majority have adopted Douglas's position? Why would the liberal Warren Court grant the police so many powers and make a precedent dangerous to Fourth Amendment freedoms?

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The decision in Terry v Ohio did indeed mark a significant departure from the traditional requiremen... View the full answer