Delaware v. Prouse

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox SCOTUS case

|Litigants=Delaware v. Prouse

|ArgueDate= January 17

|ArgueYear= 1979

|DecideDate= March 27

|DecideYear=1979

|FullName=Delaware v. Prouse

|USVol=440

|USPage=648

|ParallelCitations=99 S. Ct. 1391; 59 L. Ed. 2d 660

|Prior=State v. Prouse, 382 A.2d 1359 (Del. 1978); cert. granted, {{ussc|439|816|1978|el=no}}.

|Subsequent=

|Holding=Unless there is at least articulable and reasonable suspicion that a motorist is unlicensed, an automobile is not registered, or that either the vehicle or an occupant is otherwise subject to seizure for violation of law, stopping an automobile and detaining the driver to check his driver's license and the registration of the automobile are unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

|Majority=White

|JoinMajority=Burger, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, Stevens

|Concurrence=Blackmun

|JoinConcurrence=Powell

|Dissent=Rehnquist

|LawsApplied=U.S. Const. amend. IV

}}

Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648 (1979), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that police may not stop motorists without any reasonable suspicion to suspect crime or illegal activity to check their driver's license and auto registration.{{ussc|name=Delaware v. Prouse|volume=440|page=648|pin=|year=1979}}.{{cite book|author1=Lively, DE |author2=Weaver, RL|title=Contemporary Supreme Court Cases: Landmark Decisions Since Roe V. Wade|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=US}}