Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

D.N.M.: Arrest of man without any reasonable suspicion or PC for carrying a gun in a move theater in a holster was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Police removed a man from a movie theater. He entered with a gun in a holster on his hip, and the theater operators call the police. The plaintiff's seizure violated the Fourth Amendment because it was not against the law to "open carry." St. John v. McColley, No. 08-996 (D. N.M. September 8, 2009). See article: Federal judge rules police cannot detain people for openly carrying guns. Applying the Hill [United States v. Hill, 199 F.3d 1143 (10th Cir. 1999)] factors, it is evident that Mr. St. John was seized. While watching a movie, Mr. St. John was approached by four armed officers who instructed him to stand up and and led him outside, away from the crowd, where they continued to restrain him until they had removed his lawfully possessed weapon...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 12, 2009 (boomark / email).