South Dakota v. Opperman

428 U.S. 364 · Decided July 6, 1976 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

South Dakota v. Opperman was decided on July 6, 1976 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Search and seizure, vehicles” in the Criminal Procedure area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

South Dakota v. Opperman

SCDB identifiers: case 1975-178, docket 1975-178-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Search and seizure, vehicles”

• United States v. Martinez-Fuerte
  428 U.S. 543Decided July 6, 19767–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• United States v. Watson
  423 U.S. 411Decided January 26, 19766–2Byron R. White
• Texas v. White
  423 U.S. 67Decided December 1, 19756–2Per curiam
• United States v. Chadwick
  433 U.S. 1Decided June 21, 19777–2Warren E. Burger
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce
  422 U.S. 873Decided June 30, 19759–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourth Amendment

• United States v. Santana
  427 U.S. 38Decided June 24, 19767–2William H. Rehnquist
• United States v. Miller
  425 U.S. 435Decided April 21, 19767–2Lewis F. Powell Jr.
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  429 U.S. 338Decided January 12, 19779–0Harry A. Blackmun
• United States v. Ramsey
  431 U.S. 606Decided June 6, 19776–3William H. Rehnquist
• Gerstein v. Pugh
  420 U.S. 103Decided February 18, 19759–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  436 U.S. 307Decided May 23, 19785–3Byron R. White

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Rose v. Hodges
  423 U.S. 19Decided November 11, 19756–3Per curiam
• Menna v. New York
  423 U.S. 61Decided November 17, 19755–3Per curiam
• Dillingham v. United States
  423 U.S. 64Decided December 1, 19757–1Per curiam
• Texas v. White
  423 U.S. 67Decided December 1, 19756–2Per curiam
• Michigan v. Mosley
  423 U.S. 96Decided December 9, 19756–2Potter Stewart
• United States v. Moore
  423 U.S. 122Decided December 9, 19758–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error