UNITED STATES V. SOKOLOW, 490 U.S 1, 7 (1989)

UNITED STATES V. SOKOLOW, 490 U.S 1, 7 (1989)

UNITED STATES V. SOKOLOW, 490 U.S 1, 7 (1989)

Facts of the Case

Sokolow was held as a suspect for drug trafficking at the Honolulu International Airport. His detention at the airport was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Drug agents after his behavior was found doubtful. Sokolow had paid $2,100 in cash for the airline tickets. He was not traveling under his own name, his original destination was Miami, and he appeared uneasy during the trip. The agents searched Sokolow without any warrant whatsoever. Later the warrants were obtained for further searches and 1,063 grams of cocaine was recovered from his custody (Kersch, 2004).

Issues

Was the search of the DEA a violation of the Fourth Amendment that requires judicially sanctioned warrants and prohibits unreasonable searches? The main issue in this case is the non-availability of sufficient probable cause to detain Sokolow as per the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Results of the Case

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the search was legitimate in the circumstances that arose and the search was in lieu of the exceptions for the Fourth Amendment. According to the Court's viewpoint, the against were right in their move to detain the suspect on the basis that his acts were skeptical and he was indulging in illegal practices while not travelling under his own name and flying off to some other place. This was due to his misconducts when he was not travelling under his own name and was also paying a huge amount of money for the tickets which he might have used for some illegal purpose. It was also learnt from the officials that under the basis of “totality of circumstances” his detention was explicable owing to the circumstances ...