9.2: United States v. Martinez - Fuerte
PETITIONER RESPONDENT
United States Martinez-Fuerte
DOCKET NO. DECIDED BY
74 1560 Burger Court
LOWER COURT
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
CITATION
428 US 543 (1976)
ARGUED
Apr 26, 1976
DECIDED
Jul 6, 1976
ADVOCATES
Ballard Bennett for petitioner in No. 75-5387, by Mark L
Mark L. Evans
Charles M. Sevilla for respondent in No. 75-1560
Facts of the case
Martinez-Fuerte and others were charged with transporting illegal Mexican aliens. They were stopped at a routine fixed checkpoint for brief questioning of the vehicle's occupants on a major highway not far from the Mexican border.
Question
Do such stops violate the Fourth Amendment's proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures?
Conclusion
7 -2 Decision Majority Opinion By Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
| FOR | AGAINST |
|---|---|
|
Stevens Ginsburg Souter Scalia Thomas |
Breyer Kennedy Roberts Alito |
No, because if there is a reasonable collective suspicion, then individuals can be searched in the interest of public safety. Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., writing for the 7-to-2 majority, said: "The defendants note correctly that to accommodate public and private interests some quantum of individualized suspicion is usually a prerequisite to a constitutional search or seizure.... But the Fourth Amendment imposes no irreducible requirement of such suspicion."