Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 410.0

529US2

Unit: $U44

[09-26-01 10:00:50] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 529 U. S. 334 (2000)

335

Opinion of the Court

Rehnquist, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Stevens,
O’Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, and Ginsburg, JJ.,
joined.
Breyer, J., ﬁled a dissenting opinion, in which Scalia, J., joined, post,
p. 339.

M. Carolyn Fuentes argued the cause for petitioner.
With her on the briefs were Lucien B. Campbell and Henry
J. Bemporad.

Jeffrey A. Lamken argued the cause for the United States.
With him on the brief were Solicitor General Waxman, As-
sistant Attorney General Robinson, and Deputy Solicitor
General Dreeben.*

Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the

Court.

This case presents the question whether a law enforce-
ment ofﬁcer’s physical manipulation of a bus passenger’s
carry-on luggage violated the Fourth Amendment’s proscrip-
tion against unreasonable searches. We hold that it did.

Petitioner Steven Dewayne Bond was a passenger on a
Greyhound bus that left California bound for Little Rock,
Arkansas. The bus stopped, as it was required to do, at the
permanent Border Patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas.
Border Patrol Agent Cesar Cantu boarded the bus to check
the immigration status of its passengers. After reaching
the back of the bus, having satisﬁed himself that the passen-
gers were lawfully in the United States, Agent Cantu began
walking toward the front. Along the way, he squeezed the
soft luggage which passengers had placed in the overhead
storage space above the seats.

*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were ﬁled for the National Asso-
ciation of Criminal Defense Lawyers et al. by William J. Mertens and
Barbara Bergman; and for the Pro Bono Criminal Assistance Project by
David L. Heilberg.

Stephen R. McSpadden ﬁled a brief for the National Association of

Police Organizations as amicus curiae urging afﬁrmance.