United States v. Ross

United States v. Ross
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 1, 1982 Decided June 1, 1982
Full case name	United States v. Albert Ross
Citations	456 U.S. 798 (more) 102 S. Ct. 2157; 72 L. Ed. 2d 572; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 18; 50 U.S.L.W. 4580
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	Cert. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Holding
"Police officers who have legitimately stopped an automobile and who have probable cause to believe that contraband is concealed somewhere within it may conduct a warrantless search of the vehicle that is as thorough as a magistrate could authorize by warrant." This includes searching containers found within the vehicle. Judgment of U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
Majority	Stevens, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist, O'Connor
Concurrence	Blackmun
Concurrence	Powell
Dissent	White
Dissent	Marshall, joined by Brennan
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798 (1982), was a search and seizure case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. The high court was asked to decide if a legal warrantless search of an automobile allows closed containers found in the vehicle (specifically, in the trunk) to be searched as well. The appeals court had previously ruled that opening and searching the closed portable containers without a warrant was a violation of the Fourth Amendment, even though the warrantless vehicle search was permissible due to existing precedent.