Criminal Law
Rules on Search and Seizure
Can the police seize what they find in a frisk?
If they are frisking you for weapons and feel a hard object in your pocket that might be a gun, they are permitted to reach in and remove it.
Suppose, however, that the police feel something soft in your pocket that could not possibly be a weapon. Under long-standing legal doctrine, the police have no right to seize such an item. The Supreme Court has held that a police officer conducting a pat down search for weapons is not entitled to seize an item that, based on the officer's sense of touch, bore no resemblance to a weapon.
>>Do the police have the right to tap a telephone?
>>Do wiretaps have to be approved in advance?
>>May the police search you without a warrant?
>>Do the police have the right to stop and frisk you?
>>Can the police seize what they find in a frisk?
>>Does the law permit the police to search a home or items in it?
>>Can the police ever search a home without a warrant?
>>What happens if a search is not valid?
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