so why would that court say it violated the fourth, if they required probable cause? what the fuck are you talking about?
This was a federal district court decision that would have been overturned on appeal because it is in direct contradiction of a Supreme Court decision allowing stop and frisk. It was a political decision by the mayor that kept it from being overturned.
Terry v. Ohio,
392 U.S. 1 (1968), was a decision by the
United States Supreme Court which held that the
Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable
searches and seizures is not violated when a police officer stops a suspect on the street and frisks 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."
[1]
For their own protection, after a person has been stopped, police may perform a quick surface search of the person’s outer clothing for
weapons if they have reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is armed. This reasonable suspicion must be based on "specific and articulable facts" and not merely upon an officer's hunch. This permitted police action has subsequently been referred to in short as a "stop and
frisk," or simply a "
Terry frisk". The
Terry standard was later extended to temporary detentions of persons in vehicles, known as
traffic stops; see
Terry stop for a summary of subsequent jurisprudence.
The rationale behind the Supreme Court decision revolves around the understanding that, as the opinion notes, "the
exclusionary rule has its limitations." The meaning of the rule is to protect persons from unreasonable searches and seizures aimed at
gathering evidence, not searches and seizures for
other purposes (like prevention of crime or personal protection of police officers).
Terry v. Ohio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia