Supreme Court Rules CBP May Perform Certain Suspicionless Inspections at the Border
On March 30, 2004, the Supreme Court decided that the U.S. government's authority to conduct suspicionless inspections at the border includes the authority to remove, disassemble, and reassemble a vehicle's fuel tank in order to search for terrorist weapons, drugs, and other contraband without the need to obtain a warrant or probable cause.
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The case at issue, U.S. v. Flores-Montano, involved the inspection of a station wagon automobile at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in California. According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release, a Customs inspector, utilizing his border search authority, searched the vehicle's gas tank by disassembling it, and found 37 kilograms of marijuana. CBP states Flores-Montano was indicted on drug trafficking charges.
Previously, a federal judge ruled and was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco that the seized marijuana could not be used as evidence in the case, and that the search of the gas tank violated the 4th Amendment. The Supreme Court's ruling reverses the Appeals Court's judgment.
Supreme Court: Expectation of Privacy is Less at Border Than in Interior U.S.
According to the Supreme Court, the government's interest in preventing the entry of unwanted persons and effects is at its zenith at the international border. The Supreme Court explains that, time and again, it has stated that searches made at the border, pursuant to the longstanding right of the sovereign to protect itself by stopping and examining persons and property crossing into this country, are reasonable simply by virtue of the fact that they occur at the border.
The Supreme Court noted that the expectation of privacy is less at the border than it is in the interior. In a footnote to its decision, the Supreme Court cited 19 USC 1581(a) which provides:
"Any officer of the customs may at any time go on board any vessel or vehicle at any place in the U.S. or within the customs waters or, as he may be authorized, within a customs-enforcement area established under the Anti-Smuggling Act, or at any other authorized place, without as well as within his district, and examine the manifest and other documents and papers and examine, inspect, and search the vessel or vehicle and every part thereof and any person, trunk, package, or cargo on board, and to this end may hail and stop such vessel or vehicle and use all necessary force to compel compliance."
The Supreme Court added that, according to the U.S. Government and depending on the type of car, a search involving the disassembly and reassembly of a gas tank may take one to two hours. The Supreme Court also stated that delays of up to two hours in length at international borders are to be expected.
(Although it was argued that the disassembly and reassembly of the gas tank is a significant deprivation of property interest because it may damage the vehicle, the Supreme Court determined that while some searches of property (e.g. drilling a hole in the gas tank) are so destructive as to require a different result, this case is not one of them.
CBP Commissioner Bonner called the Supreme Court's opinion "a forceful and reasoned affirmation of CBP's border search authority" and stated that the opinion reaffirms the broad legal authority CBP needs to accomplish its mission to stop terrorist weapons and terrorists.
Supreme Court Ruling (No. 02-1794, argued 02/25/04, decided 03/30/04) available athttp://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/30mar20041115/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/03pdf/02-1794.pdf
CBP Press Release (dated 03/30/04) available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/press_releases/03302004_2.xml