Janice Rogers Brown Dissents , Would Invalidate Terry Stop
Conservative appeals court judge Janice Rogers Brown has dissented in a search and seizure case in the D.C. Court of Appeals today. She would have invalidated a "Terry" traffic stop. From her dissent:
It is true, of course, that as a standard “reasonable suspicion” is necessarily imprecise. But no matter how low the bar is set, generic racial descriptions devoid of distinctive individualized details cannot, without more, provide police adequate justification for a Terry stop. It is not enough to share the same racial characteristics as a suspect and be in the vicinity.
In short, Rogers Brown argues that "reasonable suspicion" has become, in effect, a license for stopping anyone who is young, black and male.
The opinion is here (pdf), her dissent begins on page 11.
[hat tip reader Emil.]
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