Wednesday, June 4, 1997

US Supreme Court South Dakota v. Opperman 75-76

Decided 7-6-76.

   This is the decision that gave us vehicle inventory searches (most lower courts had already upheld the validity of such searches, but this is when SCOTUS weighed in).

   Opperman's car was impounded for a parking violation, and at the impound yard an officer conducted an inventory of the valuables in the car (which were later taken to the police department for safekeeping).  During the search, the officer found weed in the glove compartment.  The owner of the car later collected his valuables from the police department, and was arrested for possession of marijuana.  He was convicted, and appealed.  The South Dakota Supreme Court overturned his conviction, holding that the inventory violated the federal fourth amendment.  The Supreme Court reversed the South Dakota Supreme Court, holding that inventories of impounded vehicles pursuant to standard police procedure are reasonable.  The court reasoned that inventory searches are conducted as more of a community caretaker function of the police than an enforcement function, and are necessary to ensure the protection of the owner's property while it remains in police custody, the protection of the police against claims or disputes over lost or stolen property, the protection of the police from potential danger, and to aid in response to incidents of theft or vandalism or attempts to determine whether a vehicle has been stolen.

   The court discussed some general search & seizure stuff in this decision, stating that although vehicles are effects (and therefore protected by the fourth amendment), they are not afforded the same level of protection as houses because of their inherent mobility and because of the lesser expectation of privacy that people have in their vehicles compared to their houses.  The court also held that it had never subscribed to the notion that the fourth amendment prohibits all searches, or even all warrantless searches, but only unreasonable searches.

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