Mike Young

WRTG 124
Worknet Project
The Ohio Supreme Court case of Terry v. Ohio concludes that two
individuals were lawfully searched by a patrolling plain clothed officer who
had probable cause that a crime was about to take place. This document is
written and influenced by twenty-one different authors and is tailored to a
very specific audience. Like many other court cases, the Chief Justice of the
Ohio Supreme Court along with many other Justices have collaborated and
scrubbed the presented evidence for and against the defendants in this case
to determine if any person is guilty of committing a crime or not. This
decision is not easily made and cannot be bias. This article is mainly set up
in a choric/bibliographic worknet, but has strong ties to both the semantic
and affinity worknets as well. Overall, the article enacts what the worknets
reveal.
The articles semantic body encompasses a large amount of law jargon
that is not defined or explained very well which leads to the assumption that
the article is written for a very specific audience. Some of the important
jargon words used but not explained are: Jurisprudence which is the
philosophy of law, The Fourteenth Amendment which is equal protection of
citizens rights in their jurisdiction, and stop and frisk which is the detention
of a person to give a quick pat down of the persons outer clothing without
arresting that person. Normal day to day citizens are not going to pick up an
article about a court case and begin to read and understand definitions of
terms and/or referenced materials. Someone without prior knowledge of the
court system or constitutional law would spend more time researching than
reading. This shows that the article alludes to the judges using several
worknets and kairos when making a final determination because the decision
fit the officers actions based on his prior knowledge in the place and time of
the search and seizure.
As stated in the document, Fifty-seven law enforcement officers were
killed in the line of duty in this country in 1966, bringing the total to 335 for
the seven-year period beginning with 1960. Also in 1966, there were 23,851

Mike Young
WRTG 124
Worknet Project
assaults on police officers, 9,113 of which resulted in injuries to the
policemen (Terry v. Ohio, 1968). This may have also played into the kairos of
the situation officer McFadden was in and the determination of Chief Justice
Warren. Officer McFadden was a 39 year veteran of the police force which
was a large influence in the affinity worknet. His experience and intuition led
him to the ultimate search and seizure of two revolvers that the defendants
were carrying. Chief Justice Warren along with many other Ohio supreme
court justices were able to conclude that the revolver seized from Terry was
properly admitted in evidence against him (Terry v. Ohio, 1968). This
decision was based mainly upon prior court cases such as Beck v. Ohio, Rios
v. United States and Carroll Et Al. v. United States. These referenced articles
are just some of the examples of the large use of the bibliographic worknet
in this document. By researching many previous court decisions, the
knowledge and experience of the police officer and the exigencies used by
the officer while conducting his search and seizure just proves that the Chief
Supreme Court Justice was able to enact a lawful decision based upon what
the included worknets revealed.
Researching law is not going to be the same as research in sciences or
literature. The Ohio Supreme Court Justices in this article did not want to
bring on new ideas of law if it was not required. When making decisions in a
court case, the judges use previous cases to find how other judges have
defined actions and behaviors. Unlike the medical or literary fields, law tends
to work primarily off of past theories, thoughts and ideas instead of trying to
create new ones. Having said that, now that this article was published and a
decision was made, there are going to be other judges referencing this case
when determining when is an appropriate time for an officer to stop and frisk
or conduct a pat down search. Even though this decision was made in the
late 1960s it will still be a relevant reference as long as people are
committing crimes while using a concealed weapon.

Mike Young
WRTG 124
Worknet Project
The extreme use of the choral worknet in the Terry v. Ohio document
allows its readers to understand very specific details of when the crime took
place and the characteristics of the era. Speaking to the era of which this
crime occurred, understanding a few definitions is paramount. Traditional
Policing is an evolving term that describes how police officers perform their
daily duties and what mediums are used to complete their objectives. Back
in the 1960s it was acceptable for a police officer to patrol inside of their
jurisdiction on foot and in plain clothes. Unlike today where police officers
have a much larger area to cover which requires the use of marked and
unmarked vehicles and uniforms to provide a sense of identity. Probable
cause is another term that is fluid in its own description. The document
states this about probable cause; "In dealing with probable cause, . . . as the
very name implies, we deal with probabilities. These are not technical; they
are the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which
reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians. This statement provides
an explanation that probable cause in itself varies through judgment and
time. The decision of the court is based upon the understanding of past and
present thoughts, ideas and constitutional laws that govern that area.
This just goes to show that the worknets play a significant role in the
collaboration and deliberation of the twenty-one authors throughout the
decision making process of this court proceeding. The judges used previous
bibliographic references to help them determine if the actions of the
perpetrators as well as the police officer were well defined and fit within the
scope of the law(s) that govern those definitions. As I stated earlier in my
paper, the bibliographic worknet is one of, if not the largest contributor to
the conclusion of the court case. There were over 20 different other court
cases that were referenced and many of those references were concluded
within 15 years of the initiation of the case of Terry v. Ohio. The terminology
and semantic references were also widespread throughout this document.
Many of the important and repeated words used were describing the police

Mike Young
WRTG 124
Worknet Project
officers actions and responsibilities during the event that transpired. The
officer seemed to be more on trial than the two defendants that were about
to commit a violent crime because of the focus that the court system had to
place on definitions for words like probable cause, search and seizure, stop
and frisk and the Fourth amendment. The officer had been a police officer for
nearly 40 years and due to the requirements of our justice system still had to
be placed under a microscope for his actions. This brings us into the affinity
worknet. The veteran officer, the multiple credentialed Ohio Supreme Court
Justices, and the experienced prosecutor all seem to have a firm grasp on
how the justice system is played out due to their extensive background and
proven capabilities. All of these things combined orchestrated an outcome
that would place two would be violent offenders behind bars before they
were able to make someone a victim of their actions.

Works Cited
Greenberg, J., Nabrit, J. M., Meltsner, M., Zarr, M., Amsterdam, A. G.,
Berkman, B. A., Wulf, M. L., Levine, A. H., Griswold, G., Vinson, Spritzer,
R. S., Rosenberg, B., Hamburg, M., Lefkowitz, L. J., Hirshowitz, S. A.,
Marcus, M. L., Soloff, B., Moylan, C., Younger, E. J., Wood, H.,
Thompson, J. R. (June 10, 1968). Terry v. Ohio. No. 67. CERTIORARI TO
THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO. United States Supreme Court.
Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?
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