Florida v. Wells
Decided April 18, 1990. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 88-1835 · 495 U.S. 1 (1990) · Cited 1,010 times
Holding
Absent any Highway Patrol policy with respect to the opening of closed containers encountered during an inventory search, the instant search was insufficiently regulated to satisfy the Fourth Amendment.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 5
- William Hubbs Rehnquist · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Byron Raymond White
- Sandra Day O'Connor
Concurring · 4
- Harry Andrew Blackmun · filed a concurring opinion
- John Paul Stevens · filed a concurring opinion
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. · filed a concurring opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Colorado v. Bertine · 479 U.S. 367 (1987)
- South Dakota v. Opperman · 428 U.S. 364 (1976)
- Illinois v. Lafayette · 462 U.S. 640 (1983)
- United States v. Chadwick · 433 U.S. 1 (1977)
- Arkansas v. Sanders · 442 U.S. 753 (1979)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Birchfield v. N. Dakota. William Robert Bernard · 579 U.S. 438 (2016)
- California v. Acevedo · 500 U.S. 565 (1991)
- Whren v. United States · 517 U.S. 806 (1996)
- Florida v. Jimeno · 500 U.S. 248 (1991)
- Brigham City v. Stuart · 547 U.S. 398 (2006)
- Atwater v. City of Lago Vista · 532 U.S. 318 (2001)
- City of Indianapolis v. Edmond · 531 U.S. 32 (2000)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1990). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).