Opinion of ALITO, J.
defendant are bound to take from his person any articles which may be of use as proof in the trial of the offense with which the defendant is charged"); J. Bishop, Criminal Procedure §§210-212, p. 127 (2d ed. 1872) (if an arresting officer finds "about the prisoner's person, or otherwise in his possession, either goods or moneys which there is reason to believe are connected with the supposed crime as its fruits, or as the instruments with which it was committed, or as directly furnishing evidence relating to the transaction, he may take the same, and hold them to be disposed of as the court may direct").
What ultimately convinces me that the rule is not closely linked to the need for officer safety and evidence preservation is that these rationales fail to explain the rule's well-recognized scope. It has long been accepted that written items found on the person of an arrestee may be examined and used at trial.[1] But once these items are
- ↑ Cf. Hill v. California, 401 U. S. 797, 799-802, and n. 1 (1971) (diary); Marron v. United States, 275 U. S. 192, 193, 198-199 (1927) (ledger and bills); Gouled v. United States, 255 U. S. 298, 309 (1921), overruled on other grounds, Warden, Md. Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U. S. 294, 300-301 (1967) (papers); see United States v. Rodriguez, 995 F. 2d 776, 778 (CA7 1993) (address book); United States v. Armendariz-Mata, 949 F. 2d 151, 153 (CA5 1991) (notebook); United States v. Molinaro, 877 F. 2d 1341 (CA7 1989) (wallet); United States v. Richardson, 764 F. 2d 1514, 1527 (CAll 1985) (wallet and papers); United States v. Watson, 669 F. 2d 1374, 1383-1384 (CAll 1982) (documents found in a wallet); United States v. Castro, 596 F. 2d 674, 677 (CA5 1979), cert, denied, 444 U. S. 963 (1979) (paper found in a pocket); United States v. Jeffers, 520 F. 2d 1256, 1267-1268 (CA7 1975) (three notebooks and meeting minutes); Bozel v. Hudspeth, 126 F. 2d 585, 587 (CA10 1942) (papers, circulars, advertising matter, "memoranda containing various names and addresses"); United States v. Park Avenue Pharmacy, 56 F. 2d 753, 755 (CA2 1932) ("numerous prescriptions blanks" and a check book). See also 3 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure §5. 2(c), p. 144 (5th ed. 2012) ("Lower courts, in applying Robinson, have deemed evidentiary searches of an arrested person to be virtually unlimited"); W. Cuddihy, Fourth Amendment: Origins and Original Meaning 847-848 (1990) (in the pre-Constitution colonial era, "[a]nyone arrested could expect that not only his surface clothing but his body, luggage, and saddlebags would be searched").
