Wyoming v. Houghton

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Scalia joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, Thomas, and Breyer, held that probable cause to search a car permits officers to search passengers' belongings inside it that could conceal the object of the search, without individualized probable cause concerning their owners. Historical practice and the automobile exception support an ownership-neutral rule, and diminished privacy expectations and law-enforcement needs independently support that result. The Court reversed the Wyoming Supreme Court. Justice Breyer concurred, emphasizing that history informs rather than automatically determines Fourth Amendment analysis and that the rule does not authorize searches of persons; he suggested that a purse attached to its owner might receive heightened protection. Justice Stevens, joined by Justices Souter and Ginsburg, dissented and would have affirmed, requiring a warrant or individualized probable cause to search a passenger's belongings.