Indianapolis v. Edmond (2000)

In the case of Indianapolis v. Edmond (2000), the Supreme Court restricted the power of suspicionless search, specifically with drug dogs. The court in the Edmond case rejected the argument that the severe nature of the problem justified warrantless and suspicionless stops and searches. The court in Edmond said that it had never approved a checkpoint program with the primary end of finding ordinary law violation. No matter how severe the drug problem, and the court agreed that the drug trade created highly difficult and complex law enforcement problems, the safeguarding of the individual (the requirement for reasonable suspicion of an individual) remains paramount.

Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1998 instituted vehicle checkpoints for the purpose of seizing illegal drugs. The procedure was for one officer to examine ...