United States v. Jacobsen
- Decided
- April 2, 1984
- Docket
- 82-1167
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,218 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- concluding that detention of package sent through private carrier was “seizure” subject to Fourth Amendment reasonableness requirement — Farm Labor Organizing Committee v. Ohio State Highway Patrol (2002)
- holding that there was no justifiable expectation of privacy when officers seized a package believed to contain cocaine — Rodriguez v. State (2003)
- holding that a drug field test does not compromise any legitimate interest in privacy because it discloses only whether a particular substance is cocaine — State v. Miller (2002)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*111] Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.
During their examination of a damaged package, the employees of a private freight carrier observed a white powdery substance, originally concealed within eight layers of wrappings. They summoned a federal agent, who removed a trace of the powder, subjected it to a chemical test and determined that it was cocaine. The question presented is whether the Fourth Amendment required the agent to obtain a warrant before he did so.
The relevant facts are not in dispute. Early in the morning of May 1, 1981, a supervisor at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Federal Express office asked the office manager to look at a package that had been damaged and torn by a forklift. They then opened the package in order to examine its contents pursuant to a written company policy regarding insurance claims.
Cite this
United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109 (1984)Read the full opinion
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