Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Simon Spero <ses AT unc.edu>]

Simon Spero wrote:

> Berkemer v. McCarty, Supreme Court of the United States, 1984
> 468 U.S. 420, 104 S. Ct 3138, 82 L. Ed 2d 317


Following up my own post - I finally had a chance to look at the 
opinion. Breyer's opinion is spot on:

*** This lengthy history—of concurring opinions, of refer-ences, and of 
clear explicit statements—means that the Court’s statement in Berkemer, 
while technically dicta, is the kind of strong dicta that the legal 
community typically takes as a statement of the law. And that law has 
re-mained undisturbed for more than 20 years. There is no good reason 
now to reject this generation-old statement of the law. There are sound 
reasons rooted in Fifth Amendment considerations for adhering to this 
Fourth Amendment legal condition circumscribing police authority to stop 
an individual against his will. ***

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/21june20041210/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/03pdf/03-5554.pdf

Simon
p.s.

Both Renquist and O'Connor voted for Berkemer.