NCJ Number
129092
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: (1990) Pages: 619-655
Date Published
1990
Length
37 pages
Annotation
The essence of the fourth amendment is a balancing test, weighing the individual expectation of privacy against the governmental interest in investigating and preventing crime. Cases near the line between a seizure and a permissible investigative technique short of seizure challenge the effectiveness of any test designed to measure when a seizure occurs.
Abstract
In close cases, perhaps no test can be an effective substitute for judgment. The Supreme Court has utilized three different tests to determine when a seizure results: the Terry standard which requires an accosting and a restraint; the reasonable person standard which focuses on the effect of the officer's actions on a reasonable person's belief under the circumstances; and the Brower standard which requires an intentional acquisition of physical control of the suspect by the officer. It remains difficult to determine when a seizure results from a show of police authority in the absence of physical restraint. These cases present the greatest need for a test to be applied in a consistent manner to achieve predictable, uniform results that accommodate the competing individual and law enforcement interest. 207 notes