Bond v. United States

Agent Cantu boarded a bus and squeezed the soft luggage in the overhead bins looking for drugs. Above Bond's (defendant) seat, Cantu felt a green canvas bag containing a brick-like object. Bond admitted the bag was his and consented to a search, and Cantu found methamphetamine. Bond moved to suppress; the motion was denied and he was convicted. The court of appeals held the manipulation irrelevant under the Fourth Amendment, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Whether a law-enforcement officer's physical manipulation of a bus passenger's carry-on bag is a search that violates the Fourth Amendment.