What determinants should be used in assessing each stop for a length of time in regards to reasonableness?

The topics are posted below. You may choose more than one topic to meet the minimum page requirement.

1. In using the totality of the circumstances test, the Supreme Court and other courts have held that showups do not violate the due process rights of defendants when the showup is necessary and police lack probable cause. On these instances, do you feel that the highly suggestive nature of a show up is counterbalanced by the alleged advantage of the witness having fresh memory and the officers having the immediate ability to know whether they have the correct person? Why or why not?

2. The issue of suggestiveness is a major concern with eyewitness identification and its reliability. What are some of the factors associated with suggestiveness (e.g., prejudice)? How can these individual factors be counteracted?

3. In United States v. Sharpe the U.S. Supreme Court declined to adopt a court of appeals’ “bright line” rule that detentions lasting longer than 20 minutes were unreasonable.” Do you feel that 20 minutes is too long, not long enough, or just about right? Why? What determinants should be used in assessing each stop for a length of time in regards to reasonableness? How did you come up with these determinants?

4. In your own words, define reasonable suspicion. Why is this so important in regards to the police making a Terry stop? More specifically, what should the standard be for the word reasonable?

5. Federal law allows such secret taping as long as one of the parties to a conversation knows about it. In more than a dozen states, however, the law requires that all the parties to a conversation must know about the recording in order to use it as evidence in a civil or criminal trial if no prior court order has been obtained. What is your position on this matter? Should the rule be that only one person in the conversation must give permission, or should both parties have to give permission? Why? If both parties were aware of the conversation being monitored would there be any incriminating conversation?

Last Completed Projects