Court Opinion

ID: 9429259
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:26:14.995854+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:18.407567
License: Public Domain

Justice Marshall,
with whom Justice Brennan joins,
concurring in the judgment.
I agree that the police do not need a warrant or probable cause to conduct an inventory search prior to incarcerating a suspect, and I therefore concur in the judgment. The practical necessities of securing persons and property in a jailhouse setting justify an inventory search as part of the standard procedure incident to incarceration.
A very different case would be presented if the State had relied solely on the fact of arrest to justify the search of respondent’s shoulder bag. A warrantless search incident to arrest must be justified by a need to remove weapons or prevent the destruction of evidence. See United States v. Robinson, 414 U. S. 218, 251 (1973) (Marshall, J., dissenting); Chimel v. California, 395 U. S. 752, 763 (1969); United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U. S. 56, 72 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting). Officer Mietzner did not in fact deem it necessary to search the bag when he arrested respondent, and I seriously doubt that such a search would have been lawful. A search at the time of respondent’s arrest could not have been justified by a need to prevent the destruction of evidence, for there is no evidence or fruits of the offense— disturbing the peace — of which respondent was suspected. Moreover, although a concern about weapons might have justified seizure of the bag, such a concern could not have justified the further step of searching the bag following its seizure. Cf. United States v. Chadwick, 433 U. S. 1, 15 (1977); id., at 17, and n. 2 (Brennan, J., concurring).