ABSTRACT
Carroll v. United States, 267 US 132 (1925), is a seminal case dealing with constitutional parameters for the search of vehicles in contrast to dwellings. The argument is specific to the needs of law enforcement officials to carry out their duties permissibly under the Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful search and seizure. The Supreme Court held in Carroll that probable cause was sufficient for the search of vehicles and that no search warrant was required. In this case, George Carroll and John Kiro, bootleggers who were well known to agents charged with enforcing prohibition, were seen driving en route from Detroit to Grand Rapids in Michigan. The police gave chase and stopped and searched the vehicle. In it they discovered and seized a cache of liquor and arrested the two men. Customs officers were investigating a smuggling operation in which planes carrying drugs flew into a remote airstrip in Arizona.
