In MN v. Moffatt, how long may police continue to detain a person?

In the case of Minnesota v. Moffatt, the principle established is that police may continue to detain an individual as long as reasonable suspicion remains. This means that if law enforcement has specific, articulable facts that lead them to believe that a person is involved in criminal activity, they can maintain the detention while they further investigate those facts.

Reasonable suspicion is a lower standard than probable cause and allows officers to act based on the totality of the circumstances. If new information comes to light that either strengthens or weakens that reasonable suspicion during the detention, it affects the officer's ability to continue to hold the individual. Essentially, the key factor is that the detention must be justifiable based on the circumstances at hand—once that reasonable suspicion dissipates, the police no longer have the legal grounds to detain the individual.

Other options provided do not accurately capture the legal framework surrounding police detentions. For instance, indefinite detention until an officer feels safe is vague and does not align with legal standards, while limiting detainment to a strict time frame like 24 hours does not consider the necessity of ongoing reasonable suspicion. Similarly, while a request for a lawyer influences the context of a detention, it does not determine how long an officer may legally