Rodriguez v. United States | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Argued January 21, 2015 Decided April 21, 2015 | |
Full case name | Dennys Rodriguez, Petitioner v. United States |
Docket no. | 13-9972 |
Citations | 575 U.S. 348 (more) 135 S. Ct. 1609; 191 L. Ed. 2d 492; 83 U.S.L.W. 4241 |
Argument | Oral argument |
Opinion announcement | Opinion announcement |
Case history | |
Prior | United States v. Rodriguez, 741 F.3d 905 (8th Cir. 2014) |
Holding | |
Absent reasonable suspicion, officers may not extend the length of a traffic stop to conduct a dog sniff | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Ginsburg, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan |
Dissent | Kennedy |
Dissent | Thomas, joined by Alito; Kennedy (all but Part III) |
Dissent | Alito |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. IV |
Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. 348 (2015), was a United States Supreme Court case which analyzed whether police officers may extend the length of a traffic stop to conduct a search with a trained detection dog.[1] In a 6–3 opinion, the Court held that officers may not extend the length of a traffic stop to conduct a dog sniff unrelated to the original purpose of the stop.[2] However, the Court remanded the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to determine whether the officer's extension of the traffic stop was independently justified by reasonable suspicion.[3] Some analysts have suggested that the Court's decision to limit police authority was influenced by ongoing protests in Ferguson, Missouri.[4]