The Legality of Prolonged Traffic Stops after Herring: Brief Delays as Isolated Negligence

The potential for a traffic stop by law enforcement is present every time a driver in the United States gets behind the wheel of a car. Traffic stops are a part of American culture as well as an ever-present reality. They are also a continuing focus of legal scholarship, with numerous legal experts writing about various facets of the traffic stop and their validity under the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” 

This Comment explores a small niche of the larger traffic stop universe, namely the constitutional validity of traffic stops where police (1) extend the length of the traffic stop beyond what is exclusively necessary for the original purpose of the stop and (2) lack any reasonable suspicion of further illegal activity. In addition, this Comment examines the admissibility of evidence gleaned from these traffic stops.