Whether the plain-touch doctrine allows deputies to remove an unknown object from under a person's clothing when they do not believe it is a weapon or contraband

QUESTION PRESENTED Whether, under the plain-touch doctrine established by Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 375, 113 S. Ct. 2130, 124 L. Ed. 2d 334 (1993), deputies unconstitutionally removed an unknown object from under Mr. John Michael Murphy’s pants even though, before the unknown object was removed, neither deputy, who had felt the unknown object through Mr. Murphy’s pants, believed it was a weapon or contraband. For the reasons set forth herein, the United States District Court and the United State Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in denying Mr. Murphy’s motion to suppress. Unless this Court addresses this constitutional violation, citizens will be subject to warrantless searches based on pat downs that fail to reveal, by plain touch, that a suspected object is either a weapon or contraband. This Court should grant a writ of certiorari, correct this error, and provide guidance for a situation likely to recur and to continue to weaken the Fourth Amendment absent action by this Court.