Wyoming+v.+Houghton

Wyoming v. Houghton

Background: Sandra Houghton was in a vehicle with her friend, David Young, he was driving. They were pulled over for a faulty brake light by a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer. The officer noticed a needle in the driver's shirt pocket. After the patrol officer found out the syringe was for shooting drugs, he called backup and searched the car. Houghton gave a fake name. The police searched Houghton's purse, and besides discovering she used a fake name by seeing her driver's liscense. They also found a syringe with 60 ccs of Methamphetamine and some other drug paraphernalia. Houghton was arrested on drug-based charges. She sued claiming that the search of her purse was unconstitutional. In trail court they ruled that Houghton's charges were legal, along with the search, so she was convicted. The case was appealed in Wyoming's Supreme Court. The previous ruling was reversed claiming the police did not have probable cause to search Houghton's purse simply based on the fact that the drive of the vehicle had a syringe in his shirt pocket. The case then went to the Supreme court, due to a petition for a writ of certiorari, that reversed the case again, in a vote of 6-3.

Majority opinion: Justice Scalia and the majority claimed that the police had probable cause to search the car for contraband along with any containers that could hold contraband.

Minority/Dissenting opinion: Justice Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg dissented claiming they respected the ruling of the Wyoming Supreme Court. They said the police have the right to search the car and containers for contraband, along with pockets or pouches. However, that does not include purses and briefcases, since they are private. Since there was no probable cause to search Houghton's purse, it couldn't be searched legally.

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