Case Law’s

2:1 - Tennessee v. Garner:

The case of Tennessee versus Garner was decided on March 27th 1985. This case allows law enforcement officers to use lethal force in order to stop a suspect from fleeing, ONLY if they have a good faith belief that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or severe injury to the officer or others.

2:2 - Pennsylvania v. Mimms:

The case of Pennsylvania versus Mimms was decided on the 5th of December, 1977. The Supreme Court of the United States held that an officer’s order for a driver to step out of their vehicle, once he/she was legally stopped and detained, was permissible under the 4th Amendment.

2:3 - Maryland v. Wilson

The case was decided on February 19th of 1997. It states that just as an officer may order a driver to exit the vehicle legally, they are also allowed to order passengers to exit the vehicle while pending completion of the stop.

2:4 - Brendlin v. California

The case was decided in 2007 on the date of June 18th. It states that passengers, just like drivers, are seized for the duration of a traffic stop. And everyone must remain within the vehicle unless ordered to step out or allowed to leave by law enforcement.

2:5 - Chimel v. California

This case gave law enforcement officers the tool known as ‘search incident to arrest’. This means that if you have legally arrested a person, it is constitutional to search them and the area within their immediate control.

This does not mean that you may search whole rooms.

Example:

You have arrested someone that was sitting on a couch. You may search them and the couch.

Decided June 23, 1969.