Seizure

In general, under the Fourth Amendment, a seizure may be of an individual or of property. The U.S. Supreme Court has described a seizure of property as “some meaningful interference with an individual’s possessory interests in that property.” An individual is “seized” when a government official makes a person reasonably believe that he or she is not at liberty to ignore the government’s presence and go about his business in view of all the circumstances surrounding the incident. Additionally, a refusal to cooperate, without more, does not furnish the minimal level of objective justification needed for a detention or seizure.

A seizure of a person, therefore, can include full arrests, investigatory detentions, checkpoint stops for citizenship inquiries, and detentions of a person against his will. The Supreme Court has identified a number of factors that might suggest that a seizure has occurred, including (1) the intimidating presence or movement of officers; (2) the display of weapons; (3) the application of physical force; and (4) the authoritative tone of voice used by officers.