When policeman in an Oklahoma town detained a woman in a Terry stop – a brief stop for criminal activity under reasonable suspicion but not probable cause – the woman refused to answer a question then tussled with the policeman. The woman sued in federal court under the Firth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure.
One federal court broached the First Amendment issue of whether the woman had the right not to answer the policeman’s question, and ultimately the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that there was no court decisions establishing a right not to talk to police in these circumstances. -db
From the First Amendment Center, November 10, 2011, by David L. Hudson, Jr.