MBE Rules · Criminal Procedure
Border search exception
Flores-Montano / Montoya de Hernandez
The rule
Routine searches at the international border or its functional equivalent require no warrant, probable cause, or reasonable suspicion. Non-routine, highly intrusive searches (prolonged detention, body-cavity, destructive searches of property) require at least reasonable suspicion.
In plain English
The government's sovereign interest in controlling who and what enters the country is at its zenith at the border. Standard luggage and vehicle inspections need no suspicion at all.
How examiners test it
Customs opens a suitcase at JFK — valid; strip-search on suspected drug swallowing requires reasonable suspicion.
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