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United States v. Place

United States Supreme Court
462 U.S. 696 (1983)

Facts

Federal agents stopped Place (defendant) at LaGuardia Airport. The agents seized his luggage, suspecting it contained drugs, in order to obtain a warrant to search the luggage. They ended up taking the luggage to Kennedy Airport to be examined by a drug-sniffing dog. This process from initial stop to dog sniff took approximately 90 minutes. In the meantime, the agents did not inform Place as to how long the luggage would be held or how he could get it back after the investigation was complete. The drug-sniffing dog reacted positively to one of the pieces of luggage and after the agents obtained a warrant, a search of the luggage found cocaine. At trial, Place asserted that the lengthy seizure of his luggage without probable cause violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (O’Connor, J.)

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