Kansas v. Glover

Decided April 6, 2020. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 18-556 · 589 U.S. 376 (2020) · Cited 283 times

Holding

When a police officer lacks information negating an inference that a person driving is the vehicle’s owner, an investigative traffic stop made after running the vehicle’s license plate and learning that the registered owner’s driver’s license has been revoked is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.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. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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. Cortez · 449 U.S. 411 (1981)
• Prado Navarette v. California · 572 U.S. 393 (2014)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• United States v. Sokolow · 490 U.S. 1 (1989)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• United States v. Arvizu · 534 U.S. 266 (2002)
• Illinois v. Wardlow · 528 U.S. 119 (2000)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• Florida v. Harris · 568 U.S. 237 (2013)
• Ornelas v. United States · 517 U.S. 690 (1996)
• Alabama v. White · 496 U.S. 325 (1990)
• Ker v. California · 374 U.S. 23 (1963)
• Florida v. Royer · 460 U.S. 491 (1983)
• United States v. Sharpe · 470 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Brown v. Texas · 443 U.S. 47 (1979)
• Devenpeck v. Alford · 543 U.S. 146 (2004)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cty. · 542 U.S. 177 (2004)
• United States v. Ross · 456 U.S. 798 (1982)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2020). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).