1979 United States Supreme Court case
| Arkansas v. Sanders | |
|---|---|
 Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Argued February 27, 1979 Decided June 20, 1979 | |
| Full case name | Arkansas v. Sanders |
| Citations | 442 U.S. 753 (more)99 S. Ct. 2586; 61 L. Ed. 2d 235 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Sanders v. State, 262 Ark. 595, 559 S.W.2d 704 (1977); cert. granted, 439 U.S. 891 (1978). |
| Holding | |
| Absent exigency, the warrantless search of personal luggage merely because it was located in an automobile lawfully stopped by the police is a violation of the Fourth Amendment and not justified under the automobile exception. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Powell, joined by Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall |
| Concurrence | Burger, joined by Stevens |
| Dissent | Blackmun, joined by Rehnquist |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. IV | |
| Overruled by | |
| California v. Acevedo, 500 U.S. 565 (1991) | |
Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753 (1979), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that, absent exigency, the warrantless search of personal luggage merely because it was located in an automobile lawfully stopped by the police, is a violation of the Fourth Amendment and not justified under the automobile exception. Similar to United States v. Chadwick (1977), the luggage was the subject of police suspicion before being placed in the vehicle.
Sanders resolved two distinct lines of cases: on the one hand, Carroll v. United States (1925) laid down the automobile exception which allowed for warrantless searches of automobiles; on the other hand, Chadwick did not allow for a warrantless search of luggage. Sanders declined to extend the automobile exception here, again stressing, as in Chadwick, the heightened expectation of privacy in one's luggage.
See also
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 442
- United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798 (1982)
- California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988)
External links
- Text of Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753 (1979) is available from: Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)
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