ABSTRACT
In Florida v. J.L, 529 US 266, the US Supreme Court examined the legal boundaries of the police practice of having officers publicly stop and frisk individuals they suspect may be involved in a crime. The case raised issues under the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution pertaining to search and seizure and the language of the amendment regarding "unreasonable" and "probable cause." In J.L., an anonymous phone caller told Miami police that a young black male standing at a particular bus stop, wearing a plaid shirt, was carrying a gun. J.L. was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a firearm while under age eighteen. His attorney moved to suppress the introduction of the gun into evidence because the discovery of the gun resulted from an illegal search. The J.L. case was significant in that it set limits to the circumstances under which police can perform a stop-and-frisk.
