No. 20-7612

Michael D. Johnson v. Indiana

Lower Court: Indiana
Docketed: 2021-03-31
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Amici (2)Response WaivedIFP Experienced Counsel
Tags: actual-suspicion circuit-split criminal-procedure fourth-amendment law-enforcement objective-standard reasonable-suspicion search-and-seizure terry-frisk terry-stop
Key Terms:
FourthAmendment CriminalProcedure
Latest Conference: 2021-05-20
Question Presented (AI Summary)

May a court uphold a Terry frisk where the frisking officer did not actually suspect that the detainee was armed and dangerous?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED To uphold a Terry frisk as constitutional, the First and Ninth Circuits require the frisking officer to have actually suspected that the detainee may be armed and dangerous. Here, the Indiana Supreme Court joined the Seventh and Tenth Circuits by applying a purely objective standard that regards an officer’s actual suspicion as irrelevant to a Terry frisk analysis. And other courts, including the Eighth Circuit and the Supreme Court of Utah, have adopted a hybrid approach wherein an officer’s actual suspicion is a relevant—but not dispositive—factor to weigh in an ultimately objective analysis. The question presented is: May a court uphold a Terry frisk where the frisking officer did not actually suspect that the detainee was armed and dangerous?

Docket Entries

2021-05-24
Petition DENIED.
2021-05-05
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/20/2021.
2021-04-30
Waiver of right of respondent State of Indiana to respond filed.
2021-04-30
Brief amicus curiae of The Cato Institute filed.
2021-04-27
Brief amici curiae of 98 Law Professors filed.
2021-03-23
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due April 30, 2021)

Attorneys

98 Law Professors
Benjamin M. MillerWren Collective, Amicus
Benjamin M. MillerWren Collective, Amicus
Michael Johnson
Daniel Scott HarawaWashington University in St. Louis School of Law, Petitioner
Daniel Scott HarawaWashington University in St. Louis School of Law, Petitioner
State of Indiana
Stephen Richard Creason — Respondent
Stephen Richard Creason — Respondent
The Cato Institute
Clark M. Neily IIICato Institute, Amicus
Clark M. Neily IIICato Institute, Amicus