Final answer:
An officer may frisk a suspect and their belongings if there's reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and that the suspect is armed. The scope of the search must be appropriate to the situation, and overly intrusive searches, like strip searches, demand higher justification.
Step-by-step explanation:
Under the Terry v. Ohio ruling, an officer has the authority to perform a 'frisk' or 'pat down' on a suspect if they have reasonable suspicion that the suspect has committed or is about to commit a crime and that the suspect is armed and dangerous. This can include going through belongings the suspect is carrying, such as backpacks or bags, without violating the Fourth Amendment. However, further jurisprudence, namely New Jersey v. T.L.O. and cases involving school searches, stipulate that the scope of the search must be proportional to the suspicions and the need for safety. An overly intrusive search such as a strip search would require higher justification, especially when considering the privacy rights of individuals, as seen in the case where the Circuit Court found a student strip search to be excessively intrusive and a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.