District of Columbia v. R.W.

Questions presented

SCOTUS records

Questions presented

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

Police responded to a late-night dispatch about a suspicious vehicle at an apartment building. When the officer arrived, two people fled from a car and the driver, R. W., began backing out with a door still open. The officer stopped R. W., the District charged him with several offenses, and the trial court denied suppression. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed, but the Supreme Court held that the officer had reasonable suspicion under the totality of the circumstances. The Court said the lower court erred by removing key facts from the analysis, especially the passengers’ flight and R. W.’s own reaction to it. The Court reversed and remanded in a per curiam opinion.

Dissent summary

Etalia.ai summary of the dissenting opinions

Justice Jackson dissented. She said the Court was wrong to intervene summarily because the lower court had properly weighed the facts one by one and reached a factbound judgment about reasonable suspicion. She argued that courts necessarily evaluate some facts as important and others as less important, so the lower court did not misapply the totality-of-the-circumstances test. She also said the Court’s disagreement was really about how much weight to give particular facts, which did not justify summary reversal.