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This case deals with what is commonly called a pretextual stop, even more so it was made by PLAINCLOTHES OFFICERS in an UNMARKED CAR
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=517&invol=806
U.S. Supreme Court
WHREN et al. v. UNITED STATES, ___ U.S. ___ (1996)
WHREN et al.
v.
UNITED STATES
Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
No. 95-5841.
Argued April 17, 1996
Decided June 10, 1996
Plainclothes policemen patrolling a "high drug area" in an unmarked vehicle observed a truck driven by petitioner Brown waiting at a stop sign at an intersection for an unusually long time; the truck then turned suddenly, without signalling, and sped off at an "unreasonable" speed. The officers stopped the vehicle, assertedly to warn the driver about traffic violations, and upon approaching the truck observed plastic bags of crack cocaine in petitioner Whren's hands. Petitioners were arrested. Prior to trial on federal drug charges, they moved for suppression of the evidence, arguing that the stop had not been justified by either a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe petitioners were engaged in illegal drug-dealing activity, and that the officers' traffic-violation ground for approaching the truck was pretextual. The motion to suppress was denied, petitioners were convicted, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Held:
The temporary detention of a motorist upon probable cause to believe that he has violated the traffic laws does not violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable seizures, even if a reasonable officer would not have stopped the motorist absent some additional law enforcement objective. Pp. 3-13.
-SNIP-
interests inherent in Fourth Amendment inquiries does not support enforcement of minor traffic laws by plainclothes police in unmarked vehicles, since that practice only minimally advances the government's interest in traffic safety while subjecting motorists to inconvenience, confusion, and anxiety. Where probable cause exists, this Court has found it necessary to engage in balancing only in cases involving searches or seizures conducted in a manner unusually harmful to the individual. See, e.g., Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 . The making of a traffic stop out-of-uniform does not remotely qualify as such an extreme practice. Pp. 10-13. 53 F. 3d 371, affirmed.
Scalia, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=517&invol=806
U.S. Supreme Court
WHREN et al. v. UNITED STATES, ___ U.S. ___ (1996)
WHREN et al.
v.
UNITED STATES
Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
No. 95-5841.
Argued April 17, 1996
Decided June 10, 1996
Plainclothes policemen patrolling a "high drug area" in an unmarked vehicle observed a truck driven by petitioner Brown waiting at a stop sign at an intersection for an unusually long time; the truck then turned suddenly, without signalling, and sped off at an "unreasonable" speed. The officers stopped the vehicle, assertedly to warn the driver about traffic violations, and upon approaching the truck observed plastic bags of crack cocaine in petitioner Whren's hands. Petitioners were arrested. Prior to trial on federal drug charges, they moved for suppression of the evidence, arguing that the stop had not been justified by either a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe petitioners were engaged in illegal drug-dealing activity, and that the officers' traffic-violation ground for approaching the truck was pretextual. The motion to suppress was denied, petitioners were convicted, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Held:
The temporary detention of a motorist upon probable cause to believe that he has violated the traffic laws does not violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable seizures, even if a reasonable officer would not have stopped the motorist absent some additional law enforcement objective. Pp. 3-13.
-SNIP-
interests inherent in Fourth Amendment inquiries does not support enforcement of minor traffic laws by plainclothes police in unmarked vehicles, since that practice only minimally advances the government's interest in traffic safety while subjecting motorists to inconvenience, confusion, and anxiety. Where probable cause exists, this Court has found it necessary to engage in balancing only in cases involving searches or seizures conducted in a manner unusually harmful to the individual. See, e.g., Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 . The making of a traffic stop out-of-uniform does not remotely qualify as such an extreme practice. Pp. 10-13. 53 F. 3d 371, affirmed.
Scalia, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
