Whren v. United States
517 U.S. 806
Author: DK

Facts:  Plainclothes police officers spotted a vehicle that stopped at a stop sign for unusually long time and after the officers turned back their vehicles, the vehicle turned without a turn signal at high speed.  The officers stopped the truck and spotted two large plastic bags that contained crack cocaine.  The petitioners argue that the stop based on a minor traffic violation was pretextual.

Procedure:  The Court of Appeals affirmed conviction.

Issue:  Does the temporary detention of a motorist who the police have probable cause to believe has committed a civil traffic violation inconsistent with the 4^th Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable seizures unless a reasonable officer would have been motivated to stop the car by a desire to enforce the traffic laws?

Holding: No

Rationale:  First of all, all traffic stops constitute seizure of persons and police officers must have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation has occurred.  It has been held by the Court in the past that a subjective intent alone does not make otherwise lawful conduct illegal or unconstitutional.  Subjective intentions play no role in ordinary, probable-cause 4^th Amendment analysis.  Also, it would be unreasonable to place judges in the shoes of the police officers because police practices vary from place to place.  Therefore, where police has probable cause to believe that a motorist has violated a traffic law, a stop and temporary seizure may be conducted and this stop does not become unconstitutional just because the officer has some hidden subjective purpose.