City of Indianapolis v. Edmond

2000

Court: US Supreme Court

Facts: Indianapolis is running vehicle checkpoints for drug interdictions. They catch Edmond.

Posture: Drugs admitted at trial, appeals court reverses. Appeal.

Issue: Are highway checkpoints whose primary purpose is narcotics interdiction constitutional?

Holding: No.

Rule: If the primary purpose of a roadblock is to uncover evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing, it is unconstitutional.

Reasoning: Just running a sniffy-dog around the outside of the car doesn't transform a search into a seizure. The point is that the threat here (drugs), while grave, regular law enforcement requires reasonable individualized suspicion for siezing people.

Dicta: