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Faculty Articles

St. Mary's University

United States Supreme Court

1987

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The Permissible Scope Of Texas Automobile Inventory Searches In The Aftermath Of Colorado V. Bertine: A Talisman Is Created, Gerald S. Reamey, Michael H. Bassett, John A. Molchan Jan 1987

The Permissible Scope Of Texas Automobile Inventory Searches In The Aftermath Of Colorado V. Bertine: A Talisman Is Created, Gerald S. Reamey, Michael H. Bassett, John A. Molchan

Faculty Articles

The fourth amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. The warrant and probable cause requirements advance this constitutionally implied privacy right. However, with respect to automobile searches, strict adherence to these safeguards has been eschewed in favor of more flexible, and arguably less protective, versions of reasonableness.

In 1981, in Gill v. State, the Texas court addressed the permissible scope of inventory searches, holding that the police may not search the locked trunk of an automobile while conducting an inventory search. Despite the simplicity of the Gill rule, a number of recent cases, while …