Brown v. Texas (1978)
- Docket
- 77-6673
- Decided
- 1978-01-01
Summary
Question: When the police detain someone because that person refused to identify himself, does it constitute a seizure subject to the restrictions of the Fourth Amendment? Conclusion: Yes. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger delivered the unanimous opinion. The Court held that the Fourth Amendment covers all police seizures, even those as brief as preventing a person from walking away. The Fourth Amendment requires that such seizures be based on specific and objective facts that create a compelling public interest in the seizure that outweighs the individual’s expectation of privacy. In this case, the Court held that the police officers lacked any reasonable suspicion based on objective fact to allow them to detain Brown and question him. Since the seizure was not lawful, the Texas statute requiring Brown to identify himself did not apply.