Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/454/924/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 11:07:36+00:00

Document:
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 454 › WHITE v. U.S.
Justice WHITE, with whom Justice BRENNAN and Justice MARSHALL join, dissenting. Two Terms previous, I dissented from a denial of certiorari that left the state and lower federal courts in conflict and confusion over whether an anonymous tip may furnish reasonable suspicion for an investigatory detention. Jernigan v. Louisiana, 446 U.S. 958d 816 (1980). Because it remains apparent that this difficult issue of everyday importance to law enforcement officials and citizens on the street alike requires resolution here, I am again moved to note my dissent. The District of Columbia Police received an anonymous telephone call informing them that a young black man known as "Nicky" and wearing a blue jumpsuit had parked his 1971 Ford at No. 1 15th Street, N. E., entered a 1974 Oldsmobile, and driven away. The caller, who further identified the cars by color and license number, said that "Nicky" and the unidentified driver of the Oldsmobile were involved in narcotics traffic and would be " dirty" with drugs when they returned. The caller refused to identify himself or how he obtained this information. Upon receipt of the tip, two police officers, working out of uniform, established surveillance at the address given. They observed the Oldsmobile returning with a black male passenger in a blue sweatsuit, but saw no suspicious activity. The officers pulled their unmarked cruiser alongside the Oldsmobile partially blocking its access, displayed police identification, approached the car with guns drawn, and ordered the men, the petitioners in these cases, out of their automobile. Heroin and narcotics paraphernalia were subsequently discovered, leading to the men's arrest and conviction for possession of and intent to distribute heroin.
A divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the trial court's denial of petitioners' motion to suppress the evidence seized from the Oldsmobile as the fruit of an invalid investigatory stop. 208 U.S.App.D.C. 289, 648 F.2d 29 (1981). The majority first determined that the actions of the police should be treated as a brief investigatory detention. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), instead of an arrest. [Footnote 1] It then concluded that the stop was valid because of the specificity of the descriptions provided and the verification of that information by the police. Judge Edwards strongly dissented on both points. The majority admitted that "[t]he question whether an anonymous tip corroborated only by observation of innocent details justified a Terry stop is a live and disputed one," 208 U.S.App.D.C., at 303, 648 F.2d, at 43.
While I find the conflict in the federal and state courts sufficient reason to grant certiorari, the argument for doing so is especially strong when such uncertainty involves a fundamental aspect of law enforcement operations. Similar investigatory stops are conducted daily on the Nation's streets. Moreover, because of the lesser quantum of evidence required, Terry stops are likely to involve innocent citizens. Here, where not only is the detention on the "outermost perimeters of the Terry doctrine," 208 U.S.App.D.C., at 303, 648 F.2d, at 43, but also at the very intersection between brief stops and full-scale arrests, the overall judgment of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment is very seriously drawn into question. Conversely, the "Fourth Amendment does not require a policeman who lacks the precise level of information necessary for probable cause to arrest to simply shrug his shoulders and allow a crime to occur or a criminal to escape." Adams v. Williams, supra, 407 U.S., at 145. Because clarification of the boundaries of legitimate police activity under the Constitution is ultimately this Court's responsibility, I would grant certiorari.
Footnote 1 The Government concedes that the tip did not provide probable cause for arrest at the time the officers approached the car. 208 U.S.App. D.C., at 292, 648 F.2d, at 32. See Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S. Ct. 1509 (1964).
Footnote 2 For cases finding that an anonymous tip with corroboration of innocent details does not establish reasonable suspicion, see Jackson v. State, 157 Ind.App. 662, 301 N.E.2d 370 (1973); Commonwealth v. Cruse, 236 Pa.Super. 85, 344 A.2d 532 (1975); State v. Wilson, 366 So.2d 1328 ( La.1978); Commonwealth v. Anderson, 481 Pa. 292, 392 A.2d 1298 (1978); Conor v. State, 260 Ark. 172, 538 S.W.2d 304 (1976); Ebarb v. State, 598 S.W.2d 842 (Tex.Cr.App.1980); State v. Sieler, 95 Wash.2d 43, 621 P.2d 1272 (1980) (en banc).
While the determination of reasonable suspicion is heavily dependent on the specificity of the information, the amount of verification, and the urgency of a particular situation, the conflicting results cannot be explained as accounting for different factual patterns. Compare People v. De Bour, 40 N.Y.2d 210, 386 N.Y.S.2d 375, 352 N.E.2d 562 (1976) (anonymous call that black man in bar wearing red shirt had gun; no reasonable suspicion) with State v. Jernigan, 377 So.2d 1222 (La.1979) (anonymous call that black man in bar wearing yellow shirt and blue pants had gun; reasonable suspicion), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 958d 816 (1980). Also compare Jackson v. State, supra (anonymous call that man in car, precisely located, had gun; no reasonable suspicion), with People v. Taggart, supra (anonymous call that man on corner, precisely located had gun; reasonable suspicion).

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.