Wyoming+v.+Houghton

Wyoming v. Houghton was instigated when a highway patrol officer pulled over a car at a routine traffic stop. The officer noticed a needle in the driver's pocket. After learning it was for drug consumption, the officer commenced to search the vehicle and the driver's purse for drug paraphernalia. Calling the search a breech of her 4th amendment rights, the driver Houghton appealed her case to the Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of the State of Wyoming. The court ruled (majority opinion written by Justice Scalia) that items involved in a vehicle search are subject to search and that the purse was inclusive for search when the police stopped and frisked the driver. Only 3 of the 9 justices voted with Stephens dissenting opinion.