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State v. Griffith6/28/2000
ge on furthering a legitimate governmental objective. Although the majority imputes to the officer motives of promoting the public interest, the record provides no intimation of these laudable motives.
. What the record reveals instead is an officer acting on an "inarticulate hunch ." Terry, 392 U.S. at 22. Weighing the unexpressed public interest against Griffith's interest in personal security tips the scale in favor of Griffith's right to be free from arbitrary interference by law enforcement under these particular facts. United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 878 (1975).
. It is of course a proper police procedure to request identification in a myriad of situations, but not here. Griffith was questioned under circumstances in which he was not free to disregard the police questions and to go about his business. This seizure was unreasonable because based on the record it was not supported by either individualized suspicion or a desire to further a legitimate law enforcement objective.
. By dismissing the significant degree of intimidation in this case, as well as the absence of both individualized suspicion and legitimate law enforcement objectives, the majority sanctions the indiscriminate interrogation of a countless number of passengers whose only transgression is their presence in vehicles stopped for traffic violations. It is the concern of sanctioning such indiscriminate interrogation that spurs a dissent in this fact-specific case.
. Facts shape the contours of our constitutional guarantees. When the majority lowers the standard to meet the facts in this case, it dilutes the constitutional rights of us all. Bit by bit, almost unnoticed, our constitutional freedoms may be eroded until one day we awaken to discover that those freedoms for which so many have fought and sacrificed have been diminished. Accordingly, I dissent.
. I am authorized to state that SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, CHIEF JUSTICE, joins this dissenting opinion.
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