Clarkstown, N.Y. police officers stop and frisk a man walking out of Target store with his two daughters. They detained him and frisked him for weapons. One officer recognized the man from a "prior arrest" and based on nothing more than a hunch “believed that there might be” an outstanding warrant for him. Officers admitted they could point to no actual facts to believe he had committed any crime, and in fact the man had no outstanding warrants and the frisk found no contraband. Man sues, pro se. Police argue for qualified immunity because there is no clearly established law that a suspicionless illegal search and seizure.
Second Circuit: This was a “paradigmatic violation of the Fourth Amendment.” By the way, "it has been equally well settled since at least 1977 that seeing a person with a criminal record in a public place, with nothing more, does not give rise to reasonable suspicion." Qualified immunity denied.
The case is Kim Vasquez v. Chris G. Maloney, et al., 20-1070 (2d Cir. March 4, 2021).