Illinois v. Gates (1982)
- Docket
- 81-430
- Decided
- 1982-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the search of the Gates's home violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments? Conclusion: The Court found no constitutional violation and argued that the lower court misapplied the test for probable cause which the Court had announced in Spinelli v. United States (1969). Justice Rehnquist argued that an informant's veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge are important in determining probable cause, but that those issues are intertwined and should not be rigidly applied. He argued that the "totality-of-the-circumstances" approach to probable cause was the correct one to glean from Spinelli, and that the law enforcement officials who obtained a warrant abided by it in this case.