Samson v. California

The defendant in this case was stopped and searched by a police officer on the public streets of San Bruno, California. The police officer knew that the defendant was on parole but had no basis to suspect him of violating the law. Even assuming that parolees are subject to suspicionless search by their parole officers, the question in this case is whether the same latitude should be given to police officers in the exercise of their general law enforcement duties.