Law Enforcement Supreme Court Cases

[WLO: 4] [CLOs: 2, 3, 6]

Police agencies must develop policies for officers which conform to constitutional requirements. Three of the leading U.S. Supreme Court opinions guide interactions between police officers and the people that they contact. Three of the most important cases for law enforcement to not violate are Weeks v. United States (1914), Miranda v. Arizona (1966), and Terry v. Ohio (1968). Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read each of the three listed U.S. Supreme Court cases, Miranda v. Arizona, Terry v. Ohio and Weeks v. United States. Law enforcement officers throughout the United States are bound by the Constitutionàintentional limitations on the governmentàpower. Many people believe that people who have done nothing wrong need no protection; however, the truth is that everyone must be afforded their protections from the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the Constitution) for every person in the country to be safe from governmental overreaching.

In your 500-word Case Briefs (excluding the title and reference pages), examine each of the cases listed through the provided links. Use at least three scholarly and/or credible sources from the University of Arizona Global Campus Library in addition to the course text with one minimum scholarly and/or credible source per case.

*Note: To access the University of Arizona Global Campus Library directly, click on the Writing Center and Library links in your left navigation. Watch the Database Search Tips video for more and see the Searching the University of Arizona Global Campus Library document for assignment-specific search tips.

For each case,

Summarize the facts of the cases¡cts are simply what occurred between the police and the defendants in the case, not legal rulings or findings.

List the constitutional amendment(s) relied upon in the court decisions.

Describe the Supreme Court opinions (what the Supreme Court ruled on the issues for each case).

Analyze whether the Supreme Courtàruling provides appropriate protections for defendants or results in unnecessary risk to peopleàsafety.

Explain the implications of the decisions for law enforcement in its investigations.