Gail Atwater, et al. v. City of Lago Vista et al.

Decided April 24, 2001. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-1408 · 532 U.S. 318 (2001) · Cited 1,388 times

Holding

The Fourth Amendment does not forbid a warrantless arrest for a minor criminal offense, such as a misdemeanor seatbelt violation punishable only by a fine.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Whren v. United States · 517 U.S. 806 (1996)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Wilson v. Arkansas · 514 U.S. 927 (1995)
• United States v. Watson · 423 U.S. 411 (1976)
• Tennessee v. Garner · 471 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Wyoming v. Houghton · 526 U.S. 295 (1999)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Welsh v. Wisconsin · 466 U.S. 740 (1984)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• United States v. Robinson · 414 U.S. 218 (1973)
• New York v. Belton · 453 U.S. 454 (1981)
• Anderson v. Creighton · 483 U.S. 635 (1987)
• County of Riverside v. McLaughlin · 500 U.S. 44 (1991)
• Go-Bart Importing Co. v. United States · 282 U.S. 344 (1931)
• Berkemer v. McCarty · 468 U.S. 420 (1984)
• Dunaway v. New York · 442 U.S. 200 (1979)
• Pennsylvania v. Mimms · 434 U.S. 106 (1977)
• Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn. · 489 U.S. 602 (1989)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Graham v. Connor · 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
• Wong Sun v. United States · 371 U.S. 471 (1963)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• Paul v. Davis · 424 U.S. 693 (1976)
• Butz v. Economou · 438 U.S. 478 (1978)
• United States v. Chadwick · 433 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Florida v. Jimeno · 500 U.S. 248 (1991)
• United States v. Martinez-Fuerte · 428 U.S. 543 (1976)
• Ohio v. Robinette · 519 U.S. 33 (1996)
• Colorado v. Bertine · 479 U.S. 367 (1987)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Virginia v. Moore · 553 U.S. 164 (2008)
• Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington · 566 U.S. 318 (2012)
• Nieves v. Bartlett · 587 U.S. 391 (2019)
• Lange v. California · 594 U.S. 295 (2021)
• Rodriguez v. United States · 575 U.S. 348 (2015)
• Arizona v. Gant · 556 U.S. 332 (2009)
• Missouri v. McNeely · 569 U.S. 141 (2013)
• Comptroller of Treasury of Md. v. Wynne · 575 U.S. 542 (2015)
• Safford Unified School District 1 v. Redding · 557 U.S. 364 (2009)
• Maryland v. Pringle · 540 U.S. 366 (2003)
• Brendlin v. California · 551 U.S. 249 (2007)
• Thornton v. United States · 541 U.S. 615 (2004)
• Torres v. Madrid · 592 U.S. 306 (2021)
• Utah v. Strieff · 579 U.S. 232 (2016)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2001). 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).