Ames v. State

In 1968 the Supreme Court, in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), extended to the police a broad new investigative prerogative, along with a concomitant self-protective measure, permitting for the first time official intrusion into the privacy of citizens on predicates less substantial than probable cause. Recognizing the potential for abuse of the new prerogatives, the Supreme Court sought to keep them under tight control by circumscribing them with austere limitations. With the passage of 49 years, however, the police inevitably still embrace the prerogatives…