NCJ Number
187397
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology Volume: 90 Issue: 3 Dated: Spring 2000 Pages: 875-915
Date Published
2000
Length
41 pages
Annotation
This note reviews both the genesis and interpretation of the warrantless automobile search, as well as the other legal principles implicated in the search of a passenger's effects.
Abstract
In Wyoming v. Houghton, the United States Supreme Court held that a police officer who has probable cause to search an automobile may search any container within the vehicle that might contain the object of the search. This includes the belongings of a passenger not suspected of any criminal behavior. This note argues that the Court erred because the facts of this case did not meet the requirements of previously allowed suspicionless searches. It further argues that the Court's denial of any meaningful expectation of privacy for passengers is inconsistent with Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Finally, the note argues that the Court overstated the potential problems of the Wyoming Supreme Court's "passenger property rule." The note concludes that the passenger's property rule offers a workable standard for police officers in the field, while adhering to the traditional notions of individualized suspicion and individual privacy. It further concludes that, before the Court can reestablish the proper safeguards for automobile passengers' privacy, it must realize that its decision in Houghton is an improper step away from Fourth Amendment principles, and passengers on American roads are afforded "a shockingly low level of Fourth Amendment protection." Notes