Walker L. Chandler, et al. v. Zell D. Miller, Governor of Georgia, et al. (520 U.S. 305)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 15, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 520 U.S. 305 · 117 S. Ct. 1295
- Decided
- April 15, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1996
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Ginsburg
- Issue area
- Privacy
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. The Fourth Amendment requires government to respect “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons . . . against unreasonable searches and seizures.” This restraint on government conduct generally bars officials from undertaking a search or seizure absent individualized suspicion. Searches conducted without grounds for suspicion of particular individuals have been upheld, however, in “certain limited circumstances.” See Treasury Employees v. Von Raab, 489 U. S. 656, 668 (1989). These circumstances include brief stops for questioning or observation at a fixed Border Patrol checkpoint, United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U. S. 543, 545-550, 566-567 (1976), or at a sobriety checkpoint, Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U. S. 444, 447, 455 (1990), and administrative inspections in “closely regulated” businesses, New York v. Burger, 482 U. S. 691, 703-704 (1987). Georgia requires candidates for designated state offices to certify that they have taken a drug test and that the test result was negative. Ga. Code Ann. §21-2-140 (1993) (hereinafter §21-2-140). We confront in this case the question whether that requirement ranks among the limited circumstances in which suspicionless searches are warranted. Relying on this Court's precedents sustaining drug-testing programs for student athletes, customs employees,…
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