South Dakota v. Opperman

Decided July 6, 1976. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 75-76 · 428 U.S. 364 (1976) · Cited 3,445 times

Holding

The police procedures followed in this case did not involve an "unreasonable" search in violation of 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 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.

• Cady v. Dombrowski · 413 U.S. 433 (1973)
• Cooper v. California · 386 U.S. 58 (1967)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Chambers v. Maroney · 399 U.S. 42 (1970)
• Harris v. United States · 390 U.S. 234 (1968)
• Cardwell v. Lewis · 417 U.S. 583 (1974)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• United States v. Ortiz · 422 U.S. 891 (1975)
• Katz v. United States · 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Coolidge v. New Hampshire · 403 U.S. 443 (1971)
• Preston v. United States · 376 U.S. 364 (1964)
• Almeida-Sanchez v. United States · 413 U.S. 266 (1973)
• Chimel v. California · 395 U.S. 752 (1969)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• Agnello v. United States · 269 U.S. 20 (1925)
• Stoner v. California · 376 U.S. 483 (1964)
• California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz · 416 U.S. 21 (1974)
• Wong Sun v. United States · 371 U.S. 471 (1963)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Johnson v. United States · 333 U.S. 10 (1948)
• United States v. Matlock · 415 U.S. 164 (1974)
• Warden, Maryland Penitentiary v. Hayden · 387 U.S. 294 (1967)
• Bumper v. North Carolina · 391 U.S. 543 (1968)
• United States v. Watson · 423 U.S. 411 (1976)
• United States v. Rabinowitz · 339 U.S. 56 (1950)
• Fisher v. United States · 425 U.S. 391 (1976)
• McDonald v. United States · 335 U.S. 451 (1948)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• Oregon v. Hass · 420 U.S. 714 (1975)

Cited by

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

• Colorado v. Bertine · 479 U.S. 367 (1987)
• Florida v. Wells · 495 U.S. 1 (1990)
• United States v. Chadwick · 433 U.S. 1 (1977)
• California v. Carney · 471 U.S. 386 (1985)
• Illinois v. Lafayette · 462 U.S. 640 (1983)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• Oregon v. Mathiason · 429 U.S. 492 (1977)
• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. · 436 U.S. 307 (1978)
• Robbins v. California · 453 U.S. 420 (1981)
• United States v. Ross · 456 U.S. 798 (1982)
• Florida v. Jimeno · 500 U.S. 248 (1991)
• Arkansas v. Sanders · 442 U.S. 753 (1979)
• National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab · 489 U.S. 656 (1989)
• New York v. Class · 475 U.S. 106 (1986)
• United States v. Johns · 469 U.S. 478 (1985)
• Collins v. Virginia · 584 U.S. 586 (2018)
• Whren v. United States · 517 U.S. 806 (1996)
• Colorado v. Connelly · 479 U.S. 157 (1986)
• Mincey v. Arizona · 437 U.S. 385 (1978)
• Pennsylvania v. Finley · 481 U.S. 551 (1987)
• Pennsylvania v. Mimms · 434 U.S. 106 (1977)
• New Jersey v. T. L. O. · 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
• Oregon v. Kennedy · 456 U.S. 667 (1982)
• Ybarra v. Illinois · 444 U.S. 85 (1979)
• Segura v. United States · 468 U.S. 796 (1984)
• Maryland v. Wilson · 519 U.S. 408 (1997)
• Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton · 515 U.S. 646 (1995)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• South Dakota v. Neville · 459 U.S. 553 (1983)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1976). 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).