An Exception Swallows a Rule: Police Authority to Search Incident to Arrest

Authors

Wayne A. Logan, Florida State University College of Law

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2001

Publication Title

Yale Law & Policy Review

Publication Title (Abbreviation)

Yale L. & Pol'y Rev.

Volume

19

Issue

2

First Page

381

Last Page

441

Abstract

Compared to Fourth Amendment jurisprudence more generally, with its well-earned reputation for complexity and variability, the search incident to arrest exception to the Amendment's warrant requirement would appear an oasis of consistency. The exception affords police an unqualified right to search anyone they arrest, without first obtaining a search warrant from a neutral judicial official. This right extends to the bodies of all arrestees, their area of "immediate control," and, if driving a car, the interior of the car and any containers located therein

Rights

© 2001 Wayne A. Logan

Comments

First published in Yale Law & Policy Review.

Faculty Biography

http://law.fsu.edu/our-faculty/profiles/wlogan

Recommended Citation

Wayne A. Logan, An Exception Swallows a Rule: Police Authority to Search Incident to Arrest, 19 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 381 (2001),
Available at: https://ir.law.fsu.edu/articles/195