California v. Acevedo - Significance, A Uniform Rule For Vehicle Searches, Dissent Finds Warrantless Search Unacceptable, Impact, Kids, Drugs, And Crime

united court petitioner decision

Petitioner

State of California

Respondent

Charles Steven Acevedo

Petitioner's Claim

That police may search a container seized from an automobile where there is probable cause to believe that the container holds evidence or an illegal substance.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Robert M. Foster

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Frederick Westcott Anderson

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun (writing for the Court), Anthony M. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter

Justices Dissenting

Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

30 May 1991

Decision

Marijuana seized from defendant's car could be admitted into evidence at defendant's trial on drug charges. Reversed lower court decision barring admission of marijuana because police had not procured search warrant.

Related Cases

United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1 (1977).
Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753 (1979).
United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798 (1982).
United States v. Cook, 938 F.2d 149 (9th Cir. 1991).
United States v. Corral, 970 F.2d 719 (10th Cir. 1992).

Sources

Morgan, Kathleen O'Leary, et al., eds. Crime State Rankings. Lawrence, KS: Morgan Quitno, 1994.

California v. Acevedo - Significance

Established that police need not obtain a search warrant prior to searching a closed container seized from a vehicle so long as they have probable cause to believe that the vehicle or container contains evidence or an illegal substance. The United States' "War on Drugs" became a major concern in the 1970s and 1980s. As drug arrests increased, a growing number of defendants sought to exclude drugs …

California v. Acevedo - A Uniform Rule For Vehicle Searches

The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the search of the bag in Acevedo's trunk was constitutional. Therefore, the marijuana found in the trunk was admissible as evidence at trial. In reaching this result, the Court rejected the respondent's argument that the police should have obtained a search warrant before opening the bag. The basis of the responden'st challenge was the Fourth Amendmen…

California v. Acevedo - Kids, Drugs, And Crime

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 1992 there were 73,981 arrests relating to the possession, sale, use, growing, and manufacture of illegal drugs on the part of youths 17 years or age and younger. Of these, 14,529, or nearly 20 percent, took place in California. New York state came in second, with 8,301 arrests (11 percent), and Texas was third with 6,306 (about 8.5 percent). A 1996 …

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User Comments

10 months ago

i dont really think this is usefull at all!

and you guys suck my big toe!

over 4 years ago

Thanks for having this page. I really didnt like going through the whole case file on some of the other sites. This gave a very clear summary and I am happy for that. Though it could have been a bit longer stating each sides view though. (4.5/5)