On April 21, 2009 the Supreme Court limited warrantless vehicle searches in a decision that will be seen as a victory for criminal defendants and advocates of privacy rights. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the ability of law enforcement to search the vehicles of people who are arrested.  In Arizona v. Gant the police arrested the defendant for driving with a suspended license, took him into custody and searched his vehicle for illegal drugs.  At the time of the search, Gant was already handcuffed and sitting in a police car.  The Supreme Court held that the police had no safety interest in searching the vehicle as the suspect was in custody and the search was not related to the offense for which the defendant was being arrested and as such, invalid. In doing so, the Court overturned a longstanding ruling that had been used to allow the police to arrest individuals for  minor traffic violations, place the occupants in custody and search an entire vehicle for contraband.

In the ruling, the Court did not completely prohibit warrantless searches of vehicles.  It did, however, give law enforcement a clearer test to determine whether a particular search will be proper.  After the ruling  an officer may search a vehicle without a warrant “when an arrestee is within reaching distance of the vehicle or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest.”  The test the Court established now prevents the police from searching a vehicle after the defendant has been safely taken into custody and there is no risk of danger to the officer, but does allow a search for evidence of the particular crime the defendant is being arrested for.  As such, the days of a routine traffic stop leading to a full-scale search of a vehicle when no other criminal activity is found may now be over.