The Facts of Florida v. Bostick:
As part of a drug interdiction effort, two police officers boarded a Miami to
Jacksonville bus during a stopover. Without a reason for suspicion they could
articulate, they asked a passenger for his ticket and identification. Explaining
that they were looking for drugs, they asked the man for permission to search
his luggage, advising him that he had the right to refuse. He agreed and they
found cocaine. When charged with trafficking in cocaine, the man moved to
suppress its use as evidence on the ground that it had been seized in violation
of the Fourth Amendment. The trial court denied his motion and he pleaded guilty
but reserved the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. He was
convicted and, on appeal, the case moved through the Florida District Court of
Appeals to the Florida Supreme Court. That court ruled that 1) the passenger had
been seized because a reasonable person in his situation would not have felt
free to leave the bus to avoid police questioning and 2) held that an
impermissible seizure results when police mount a drug search on buses during
scheduled stops and question boarded passengers without "articulable" reasons
for doing so, thereby obtaining consent to search the passenger's luggage.
If you are only looking for case law, proceed to the Precedents Page.