ABSTRACT
United States v. Drayton, 536 US 194, involved the scope of police authority to search public buses and their passengers absent prior judicial approval or clear evidence of crime. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's majority opinion upheld the constitutionality of the officers' conduct by stressing the broad authority of law enforcement officials to investigate and deter crimes even in the absence of any specific suspicion or evidence of illegal acts. Approaching the men at their seats, officers first sought and gained their permission to search an overhead bag. Officers were constitutionally required to provide adequate procedural safeguards-including notice of the right to refuse cooperation-so as to preserve passengers' effective freedom of choice. The touchstone for valid consent, Kennedy concluded, was voluntariness rather than explicit notice and waiver of the right to deny cooperation. All nine justices in Drayton endorsed the majority's "reasonable person" and voluntariness standards for judging the validity of police investigatory actions under the Fourth Amendment.
