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Supreme Court· 5/15/1996

Whren v. United States

Citations

  • 517 U.S. 806
  • 116 S. Ct. 1769
  • 135 L. Ed. 2d 89
  • 1996 U.S. LEXIS 3720

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

  • holding that the proper focus of Fourth Amendment inquiry is objective conduct, and not subjective intent, of police officer
  • holding that the proper focus of Fourth Amendment inquiry is objective conduct, and not subjective intent, of police officer
  • holding that “[sjubjective intent ... alone does not make otherwise lawful conduct illegal or unconstitutional”
  • holding that under the Fourth Amendment the motive of the officer when stopping a vehicle for a minor traffic infraction, whether subjective or objective, is completely irrelevant
  • holding that previous case law forecloses any argument that the reasonableness of a traffic stop depends upon the subjective intent of the individual officers
  • holding that reasonableness of a stop does not depend on the subjective motivations of the police officers

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Scalia

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.