United States v. Brignoni-Ponce

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=United States v. Brignoni-Ponce
ArgueDate=February 18
ArgueYear=1975
DecideDate=June 30
DecideYear=1975
FullName=United States v. Brignoni-Ponce
USVol=422
USPage=873
Citation=95 S. Ct. 2574; 45 L. Ed. 2d 607; 1975 U.S. LEXIS 10
Prior=
Subsequent=
Holding=Border Patrol officers on roving patrols cannot stop a vehicle near border when the only ground for suspicion is that the occupants appear to be of Mexican ancestry.
SCOTUS=1972-1975
Majority=Powell
JoinMajority=Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Rehnquist
Concurrence=Burger
JoinConcurrence=Blackmun
Concurrence2=Douglas
Concurrence3=White
JoinConcurrence3=Blackmun
LawsApplied=U.S. Const. amends. IV

"United States v. Brignoni-Ponce", 422 U.S. 873 (1975), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which held that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not allow a roving patrol of the United States Border Patrol to stop a vehicle near the United States–Mexico border and question its occupants about their citizenship and immigration status, when the only ground for suspicion is that the occupants appear to be of Mexican ancestry. Except at the border and its functional equivalents, patrolling officers may stop vehicles only if they are aware of specific articulable facts, together with rational inferences therefrom, reasonably warranting suspicion that the vehicles contain aliens who may be illegally in the country.

Further reading

*cite journal |last=Bernstein |first=Steven K. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1990 |month= |title=Fourth Amendment—Using the Drug Courier Profile to Fight the War on Drugs |journal=Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology |volume=80 |issue=4 |pages=996–1017 |doi=10.2307/1143688 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
*cite journal |last=Smith |first=Michael R. |authorlink= |coauthors=Alpert, Geoffrey P. |year=2002 |month= |title=Searching for direction: Courts, social science, and the adjudication of racial profiling claims |journal=Justice Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=673–703 |doi=10.1080/07418820200095391 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
*cite book |chapter="United States v. Brignoni-Ponce" (1975), law and order on the border |title=Latinos and American Law: Landmark Supreme Court Cases |last=Soltero |first=Carlos R. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2006 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin, TX |isbn=0292714114 |pages=107–117