Illinois v. William Aka Sam Wardlow (528 U.S. 119)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 12, 2000 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 528 U.S. 119 · 120 S. Ct. 673
- Decided
- January 12, 2000
- Term
- October Term 1999
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
CHIEF Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. Respondent Wardlow fled upon seeing police officers patrolling an area known for heavy narcotics trafficking. Two of the officers caught up with him, stopped him, and conducted a protective patdown search for weapons. Discovering a .38-caliber handgun, the officers arrested Wardlow. We hold that the officers’ stop did not violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. On September 9, 1995, Officers Nolan and Harvey were working as uniformed officers in the special operations section of the Chicago Police Department. The officers were driving the last car of a four-car caravan converging on an area known for heavy narcotics trafficking in order to investigate drug transactions. The officers were traveling together because they expected to find a crowd of people in the area, including lookouts and customers. As the caravan passed 4035 West Van Burén, Officer Nolan observed respondent Wardlow standing next to the building holding an opaque bag. Respondent looked in the direction of the officers and fled. Nolan and Harvey turned their ear southbound, watched him as he ran through the gangway and an alley, and eventually cornered him on the street. Nolan then exited his ear and stopped respondent. He immediately conducted a protective patdown search for weapons because in his experience it was common for…
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