Stop and Frisk as it Relates to Race and Social Class

Despite living in the Land of the Free, some Americans on the public streets are still being singled out by law enforcement authorities for questioning and searches based on race and social class. In what is termed a "stop and frisk," police have detained and searched ordinary citizens for no other crime than being a minority or poor. In mid-1968, the two Supreme Court cases, Terry v. Ohio and Sibron v. New York, approved the constitutionality of police stop and frisk practices under the Fourth Amendment. Since that time, there is a growing body of evidence that indicates that police have used disproportionately applied this authority to minority members and poor people, in some cases to improve their image with their fellow officers. This paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning these two cases,...
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