Kansas v. Glover

• Decision Date: 06 April 2020
• Docket Number: No. 18-556,18-556
• Citation: 140 S.Ct. 1183,206 L.Ed.2d 412
• Parties: KANSAS, Petitioner v. Charles GLOVER
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

140 S.Ct. 1183

206 L.Ed.2d 412

KANSAS, Petitioner

v.Charles GLOVER

No. 18-556

Supreme Court of the United States.

Argued November 4, 2019

Decided April 6, 2020

Solicitor General Toby Crouse for the petitioner

Michael R. Huston for the United States as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, supporting the petitioner

Sarah E. Harrington, Bethesda, MD, for the respondent.

Derek Schmidt, Attorney General of Kansas, Jeffrey A. Chanay, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Charles E. Branson, District Attorney, Douglas County, Kansas, Andrew D. Bauch, Assistant District Attorney, Toby Crouse, Solicitor General of Kansas, Kristafer Ailslieger, Brant M. Laue, Deputy Solicitors General, Natalie Chalmers, Bryan C. Clark, Dwight R. Carswell, Jodi Litfin, Assistant Solicitors General, Topeka, KS, for petitioner State of Kansas.

Elbridge Griffy IV, Joshua D. Seiden, Lawrence, KS, Sarah E. Harrington, Charles H. Davis, Erica Oleszczuk Evans, Daniel Woofter, Goldstein & Russell. P.C., Bethesda, MD, for respondent.

Justice THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case presents the question whether a police officer violates the Fourth Amendment by initiating an investigative traffic stop after running a vehicle's license plate and learning that the registered owner has a revoked driver's license. We hold that when the officer lacks information negating an inference that the owner is the driver of the vehicle, the stop is reasonable.

I

Kansas charged respondent Charles Glover, Jr., with driving as a habitual violator after a traffic stop revealed that he was driving with a revoked license. See Kan. Stat. Ann. § 8–285(a)(3) (2001). Glover filed a motion to suppress all evidence seized during the stop, claiming that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion. Neither Glover nor the police officer testified at the suppression hearing. Instead, the parties stipulated to the following facts:

"1. Deputy Mark Mehrer is a certified law enforcement officer employed by the Douglas County Kansas Sheriff ’s Office.

2. On April 28, 2016, Deputy Mehrer was on routine patrol in Douglas County when he observed a 1995 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck with Kansas plate 295ATJ.

3. Deputy Mehrer ran Kansas plate 295ATJ through the Kansas Department of Revenue's file service. The registration came back to a 1995 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck.

4. Kansas Department of Revenue files indicated the truck was registered to Charles Glover Jr. The files also indicated that Mr. Glover had a revoked driver's license in the State of Kansas.

5. Deputy Mehrer assumed the registered owner of the truck was also the driver, Charles Glover Jr.

6. Deputy Mehrer did not observe any traffic infractions, and did not attempt to identify the driver [of] the truck. Based solely on the information that the registered owner of the truck was revoked, Deputy Mehrer initiated a traffic stop.

7. The driver of the truck was identified as the defendant, Charles Glover Jr." App. to Pet. for Cert. 60–61.

The District Court granted Glover's motion to suppress. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that "it was reasonable for [Deputy] Mehrer to infer that the driver was the owner of the vehicle" because "there were specific and articulable facts from which the officer's common-sense inference gave rise to a reasonable suspicion." 54 Kan.App.2d 377, 385, 400 P.3d 182, 188 (2017).

The Kansas Supreme Court reversed. According to the court, Deputy Mehrer did not have reasonable suspicion because his inference that Glover was behind the wheel amounted to "only a hunch" that Glover was engaging in criminal activity. 308 Kan. 590, 591, 422 P.3d 64, 66 (2018). The court further explained that Deputy Mehrer's "hunch" involved "applying and stacking unstated assumptions that are unreasonable without further factual basis," namely, that "the registered owner was likely the primary driver of the vehicle" and that "the owner will likely disregard the suspension or revocation order and continue to drive." Id., at 595–597, 422 P.3d at 68–70. We granted Kansas’ petition for a writ of certiorari, 587 U. S. ––––, 139 S.Ct. 1445, 203 L.Ed.2d 680 (2019), and now reverse.

II

Under this Court's precedents, the Fourth Amendment permits an officer to initiate a brief investigative traffic stop when he has "a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity." United States v. Cortez , 449 U.S. 411, 417–418, 101 S.Ct. 690, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981) ; see also Terry v. Ohio , 392 U.S. 1, 21–22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). "Although a mere ‘hunch’ does not create reasonable suspicion, the level of suspicion the standard requires is considerably less than proof of wrongdoing by a preponderance of the evidence, and obviously less than is necessary for probable cause." Prado Navarette v. California , 572 U.S. 393, 397, 134 S.Ct. 1683, 188 L.Ed.2d 680 (2014) (quotation altered); United States v. Sokolow , 490 U.S. 1, 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989).

Because it is a "less demanding" standard, "reasonable suspicion can be established with information that is different in quantity or content than that required to establish probable cause." Alabama v. White , 496 U.S. 325, 330, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990). The standard "depends on the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men , not legal technicians, act." Navarette , supra , at 402, 134 S.Ct. 1683 (quoting Ornelas v. United States , 517 U.S. 690, 695, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996) (emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted)). Courts "cannot reasonably demand scientific certainty ... where none exists." Illinois v. Wardlow , 528 U.S. 119, 125, 120 S.Ct. 673, 145 L.Ed.2d 570 (2000). Rather, they must permit officers to make "commonsense judgments and inferences about human behavior." Ibid. ; see also Navarette , supra , at 403, 134 S.Ct. 1683 (noting that an officer " ‘need not rule out the possibility of innocent conduct’ ").

III

We have previously recognized that States have a "vital interest in ensuring that only those qualified to do so are permitted to operate motor vehicles [and] that licensing, registration, and vehicle inspection requirements are being observed." Delaware v. Prouse , 440 U.S. 648, 658, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979). With this in mind, we turn to whether the facts known to Deputy Mehrer at the time of the stop gave rise to reasonable suspicion. We conclude that they did.

Before initiating the stop, Deputy Mehrer observed an individual operating a 1995 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck with Kansas plate 295ATJ. He also knew that the registered owner of the truck had a revoked license and that the model of the truck matched the observed vehicle. From these three facts, Deputy Mehrer drew the commonsense inference that Glover was likely the driver of the vehicle, which provided more than reasonable suspicion to initiate the stop.

The fact that the registered owner of a vehicle is not always the driver of the vehicle does not negate the reasonableness of Deputy Mehrer's inference. Such is the case with all reasonable inferences. The reasonable suspicion inquiry "falls considerably short" of 51% accuracy, see United States v. Arvizu , 534 U.S. 266, 274, 122 S.Ct. 744, 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002), for, as we have explained, "[t]o be reasonable is not to be perfect," Heien v. North Carolina , 574 U.S. 54, 60, 135 S.Ct. 530, 190 L.Ed.2d 475 (2014).

Glover's revoked license does not render Deputy Mehrer's inference unreasonable either. Empirical studies demonstrate what common experience readily reveals: Drivers with revoked licenses frequently continue to drive and therefore to pose safety risks to other motorists and pedestrians. See, e.g. , 2 T. Neuman et al., National Coop. Hwy. Research Program Report 500: A Guide for Addressing Collisions Involving Unlicensed Drivers and Drivers With Suspended or Revoked Licenses, p. III–1 (2003) (noting that 75% of drivers with suspended or revoked licenses continue to drive); National Hwy. and Traffic Safety Admin., Research Note: Driver License Compliance Status in Fatal Crashes 2 (Oct. 2014) (noting that approximately 19% of motor vehicle fatalities from 2008–2012 "involved drivers with invalid licenses").

Although common sense suffices to justify this inference, Kansas law reinforces that it is reasonable to infer that an individual with a revoked license may continue driving. The State's license-revocation scheme covers drivers who have already demonstrated a disregard for the law or are categorically unfit to drive. The Division of Vehicles of the Kansas Department of Revenue (Division) "shall" revoke a driver's license upon certain convictions for involuntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide, battery, reckless driving, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, or conviction of a felony in which a motor vehicle is used. Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 8–254(a), 8–252. Reckless driving is defined as "driv[ing] any vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property." § 8–1566(a). The Division also has discretion to revoke a license if a driver "[h]as been convicted with such frequency of serious offenses against traffic regulations governing the movement of vehicles as to indicate a disrespect for traffic laws and a disregard for the safety of other persons on the highways," "has been convicted of three or more moving traffic violations committed on separate occasions within a 12-month period," "is incompetent to drive a motor vehicle," or "has been convicted of a moving traffic violation, committed at a time when the person's driving privileges were restricted, suspended[,] or revoked." §§ 8–255(a)(1)–(4). Other reasons include violating license restrictions, § 8–245(c), being under house arrest, § 21–6609(c), and being a habitual violator, § 8–286, which Kansas defines as a resident or nonresident who has been convicted three or more times within the past five years of certain...