There have been many landmark cases in the US that have set precedents over cases and really affected how we look at certain amendments. One such case is Terry vs. Ohio. In this case on October 31, 1963 Detective McFadden saw two men acting suspiciously. John Terry and Richard Chilton were walking past a store staring in it and then meeting up on the corner and talking. The officer observed this over about a dozen times and on one of the trips a third man was seen talking with them. The officer then followed the men and saw them meet up with the third man he saw earlier. Detective McFadden approached the men, told them he was a police officer and quickly started searching them for his own safety. He found guns on Terry and Chilton. They were both arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
In this case the Fourth Amendment would come into play and tried to be argued by Terry. Terry tried to argue that his fourth amendment right, which protects him of unreasonable searches and seizures, was violated. He said that the officer had no reasonable suspicion of searching him and thus the exclusionary rule should come into effect. His appeals were denied all the way up to the Supreme Court. The courts said that the officer acted under reasonable suspicion and performed an outside frisk of the individuals clothing and then felt the guns. They also noted that he was not trying to find evidence but rather he was searching them for his own safety. The court said that even the exclusionary rule has limitations. The rule is to protect persons from unreasonable searches and seizures aimed at gathering evidence, not searches and seizures for other purpose like prevention of crime or personal protection of officers and the public. The courts said the Fourth Amendment was not violated because he had reasonable suspicion that a crime was occurring or was going to occur in this case a stick up. This case set many precedents in cases and is now known in law...