United States v. Martinez-Fuerte

United States v. Martinez-Fuerte
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 26, 1976
Decided July 6, 1976
Full case nameUnited States v. Martinez-Fuerte, et al.
Citations428 U.S. 543 (more)
96 S. Ct. 3074; 49 L. Ed. 2d 1116
Case history
Prior514 F.2d 308 (9th Cir. 1975); cert. granted, 423 U.S. 822 (1975).
Holding
The Border Patrol's routine stopping of a vehicle at a permanent checkpoint located on a major highway away from the Mexican border for brief questioning of the vehicle's occupants is consistent with the Fourth Amendment, and the stops and questioning may be made at reasonably located checkpoints in the absence of any individualized suspicion that the particular vehicle contains illegal aliens.
Court membership
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
Case opinions
MajorityPowell, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun, Rehnquist, Stevens
DissentBrennan, joined by Marshall
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543 (1976), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court that allowed the United States Border Patrol to set up permanent or fixed checkpoints on public highways leading to or away from the Mexican border and that the checkpoints are not a violation of the Fourth Amendment.[1][2]

  1. ^ United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543 (1976).
  2. ^ New York Times, 7 July 1976, Vol. CXXV, no. 43,264