Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada

Under Terry v. Ohio, Nevada state law allows an officer to detain a suspect based on a reasonable indication of the commission of a crime, a threshold less than probable cause. However, the Nevada law also allows officers to demand that the detained individual identify themselves. The particular case addressed here which challenges this Nevada law, Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, brings up the question of whether the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects individuals from being required to identify themselves during police stops based on less than probable cause.

This amicus curiae brief was filed in support of the petitioner by NLCHP and five allied organizations. It addresses the barriers faced by homeless people in obtaining identification, their increased likelihood to be stopped by police, as well as the increased effort by local governments to criminalize homelessness. Given the circumstances of homelessness, it is unreasonable to allow Nevada officers to demand identification for anything less than probable cause.

This brief concludes by stating that the Nevada law should be overturned.

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