California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Superior Court, 20 Cal.App.3d 384, 97 Cal.Rptr. 646 (Cal. App. 1971):
In rebuttal, defendants insist that mere possession of someone else's credit card is not Per se an unusual circumstance relating to criminality. But in a credit card age credit cards are credit badges and easily can be utilized by thieves to cheat and defraud innocent persons. While it may be true that mere possession of another person's credit card is not Per se an unusual circumstance, when such possession is coupled with a direction by the responsible agency to 'pick up' the card, it gives rise to a plausible suggestion of criminal conduct warranting reasonable police detention for questioning. In upholding a limited invasion of a citizen's privacy under these circumstances, we strike 'a balance between a person's interest in immunity from police interference and the community's interest in law enforcement.' (People v. Mickelson, Supra, 59 Cal.2d 448, 452, 30 Cal.Rptr. 18, 20, 380 P.2d 658, 660.)
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