Illinois v. Charles McArthur

Decided February 20, 2001. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 99-1132 · 531 U.S. 326 (2001) · Cited 735 times

Holding

Given the nature of the intrusion and the law enforcement interest at stake, the brief seizure of the premises was permissible under 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 8–1.

“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.

• United States v. Place · 462 U.S. 696 (1983)
• Segura v. United States · 468 U.S. 796 (1984)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Welsh v. Wisconsin · 466 U.S. 740 (1984)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• Schmerber v. California · 384 U.S. 757 (1966)
• Mincey v. Arizona · 437 U.S. 385 (1978)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• United States v. Santana · 427 U.S. 38 (1976)
• United States v. Van Leeuwen · 397 U.S. 249 (1970)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• United States v. Ventresca · 380 U.S. 102 (1965)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• Texas v. Brown · 460 U.S. 730 (1983)
• Wilson v. Layne · 526 U.S. 603 (1999)
• Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States · 251 U.S. 385 (1920)
• Michigan v. Summers · 452 U.S. 692 (1981)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• United States v. Jeffers · 342 U.S. 48 (1951)
• Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz · 496 U.S. 444 (1990)
• Richards v. Wisconsin · 520 U.S. 385 (1997)
• Massachusetts v. Upton · 466 U.S. 727 (1984)
• Pennsylvania v. Labron · 518 U.S. 938 (1996)

Cited by

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

• Maryland v. King · 569 U.S. 435 (2013)
• Missouri v. McNeely · 569 U.S. 141 (2013)
• City of L. A. v. Patel · 576 U.S. 409 (2015)
• Mitchell v. Wisconsin · 588 U.S. 840 (2019)
• Georgia v. Randolph · 547 U.S. 103 (2006)
• Lange v. California · 594 U.S. 295 (2021)
• United States v. Knights · 534 U.S. 112 (2001)

Official text

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

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’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).