Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648 (1979), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that police may not stop motorists without any reasonable suspicion to suspect crime or illegal activity to check their driver's license and auto registration.[1][2]
Quick Facts Argued January 17, 1979 Decided March 27, 1979, Full case name ...
| Delaware v. Prouse |
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| Full case name | Delaware v. Prouse |
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| Citations | 440 U.S. 648 (more) |
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| Prior | State v. Prouse, 382 A.2d 1359 (Del. 1978); cert. granted, 439 U.S. 816 (1978). |
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| Unless there is at least articulable and reasonable suspicion that a motorist is unlicensed, an automobile is not registered, or that either the vehicle or an occupant is otherwise subject to seizure for violation of law, stopping an automobile and detaining the driver to check his driver's license and the registration of the automobile are unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. |
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- Chief Justice
- Warren E. Burger
- Associate Justices
- William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
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| Majority | White, joined by Burger, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, Stevens |
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| Concurrence | Blackmun, joined by Powell |
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| Dissent | Rehnquist |
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| U.S. Const. amend. IV |
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