New York v. Belton

Decided July 1, 1981. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-328 · 453 U.S. 454 (1981) · Cited 3,483 times

Holding

The search of respondent's jacket was a search incident to a lawful custodial arrest, and hence did not violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Chimel v. California · 395 U.S. 752 (1969)
• United States v. Robinson · 414 U.S. 218 (1973)
• United States v. Chadwick · 433 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Chambers v. Maroney · 399 U.S. 42 (1970)
• Mincey v. Arizona · 437 U.S. 385 (1978)
• Preston v. United States · 376 U.S. 364 (1964)
• Arkansas v. Sanders · 442 U.S. 753 (1979)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Coolidge v. New Hampshire · 403 U.S. 443 (1971)
• Dunaway v. New York · 442 U.S. 200 (1979)
• McDonald v. United States · 335 U.S. 451 (1948)
• Vale v. Louisiana · 399 U.S. 30 (1970)
• Cupp v. Murphy · 412 U.S. 291 (1973)
• Dyke v. Taylor Implement Manufacturing Co. · 391 U.S. 216 (1968)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Sibron v. New York · 392 U.S. 40 (1968)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Draper v. United States · 358 U.S. 307 (1959)
• Stoner v. California · 376 U.S. 483 (1964)
• Jones v. United States · 357 U.S. 493 (1958)
• United States v. Edwards · 415 U.S. 800 (1974)
• Go-Bart Importing Co. v. United States · 282 U.S. 344 (1931)
• Gustafson v. Florida · 414 U.S. 260 (1973)
• Lefkowitz v. Newsome · 420 U.S. 283 (1975)
• Shipley v. California · 395 U.S. 818 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Thornton v. United States · 541 U.S. 615 (2004)
• Arizona v. Gant · 556 U.S. 332 (2009)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• Montejo v. Louisiana · 556 U.S. 778 (2009)
• California v. Acevedo · 500 U.S. 565 (1991)
• Atwater v. City of Lago Vista · 532 U.S. 318 (2001)
• Oliver v. United States · 466 U.S. 170 (1984)
• Maryland v. King · 569 U.S. 435 (2013)
• Texas v. Brown · 460 U.S. 730 (1983)
• Illinois v. Lafayette · 462 U.S. 640 (1983)
• Pennsylvania v. Labron · 518 U.S. 938 (1996)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Ornelas v. United States · 517 U.S. 690 (1996)
• United States v. Ross · 456 U.S. 798 (1982)
• United States v. Hensley · 469 U.S. 221 (1985)
• Illinois v. Caballes · 543 U.S. 405 (2005)
• Colorado v. Bertine · 479 U.S. 367 (1987)
• Maryland v. Wilson · 519 U.S. 408 (1997)
• California v. Greenwood · 486 U.S. 35 (1988)
• Knowles v. Iowa · 525 U.S. 113 (1998)
• New York v. Class · 475 U.S. 106 (1986)
• Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington · 566 U.S. 318 (2012)
• Illinois v. Andreas · 463 U.S. 765 (1983)
• Texas v. Cobb · 532 U.S. 162 (2001)
• Washington v. Chrisman · 455 U.S. 1 (1982)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Potter Stewart’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1981). 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).