| Abel v. United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued February 24–25, 1959 Reargued November 9, 1959 Decided March 28, 1960 | |
| Full case name | Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, alias Mark, alias Collins, alias Goldfus v. United States |
| Citations | 362U.S.217 (more) 80 S. Ct. 683; 4L. Ed. 2d 668 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | United States v. Abel, 155F. Supp.8 (E.D.N.Y. 1957); aff'd, 258F.2d485 (2d Cir. 1958);cert. granted,358 U.S. 813 (1958). |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Frankfurter, joined by Clark, Harlan, Whittaker, Stewart |
| Dissent | Douglas, joined by Black |
| Dissent | Brennan, joined by Warren, Black, Douglas |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. IV | |
Abel v. United States, 362 U.S. 217 (1960), was aUnited States Supreme Court case.[1]
TheFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) suspectedRudolph Abel of being a spy for theSoviet Union. They also suspected him of being in the United States illegally. Rather than arresting him for espionage, the FBI turned over their evidence to theImmigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which has a lower threshold for securingarrest warrants. The INS arrested Abel for being in the United States illegally, but agreed to allow the FBI to try to flip Abel into becoming adouble agent against the Soviet Union before carrying out the arrest. The INS apprehended Abel in his hotel room and after Abel refused to flip the INS arrested him. Pursuant to the arrest, the INS searched the hotel room. They allowed Abel to take some papers with him and check out of the hotel, and the INS searched those papers later. The INS searches uncovered evidence of Abel using a false identity and engaging in espionage and turned this evidence over to the FBI. After Abel had checked out of the hotel, the FBI searched the room with the consent of the hotel and found additional evidence of espionage.[2][3]
The evidence turned up by the INS and FBI searches was used in Abel's trial, in which he was convicted and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. Abel, represented byJames B. Donovan, appealed to the Supreme Court that the searches violated theFourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and thus the evidence should not have been used at his trial. The Supreme Court granted awrit of certiorari on October 13, 1958, to decide two issues:
After arguments on these issues the Supreme Court could not come to a decision. Thus the case was re-argued to decide the issues reformed as follows:
The Supreme Court affirmed Abel's conviction in a 5–4 decision. JusticeFelix Frankfurter wrote the Court opinion, joined by JusticesTom C. Clark,John Harlan,Potter Stewart andCharles Evans Whittaker.[2] While noting that the government must not be permitted to circumvent the Fourth Amendment by invoking an administrative procedure, the Court accepted the lower courts' findings that the FBI's interaction with the INS in this case was in good faith.[2] The Court then found that the INS searches were made pursuant to a valid arrest, and thus the evidence was discovered appropriately.[2] Further, having appropriately uncovered evidence of a crime, it was appropriate for the INS to share that evidence with the FBI, since this merely represented cooperation between two branches of theUnited States Department of Justice.[2] Finally, after Abel had checked out of the hotel room, it was appropriate for the hotel to give the FBI permission to search the vacated room, and thus the evidence uncovered by the FBI in its own search was valid.[3]
Four Justices dissented from the decision in two separate opinions.[3] JusticeWilliam O. Douglas wrote a dissent that was joined by JusticeHugo Black,[3] and JusticeWilliam Brennan wrote a dissent that was joined by Justices Douglas, Black and Chief JusticeEarl Warren.[3] The dissenting opinions put forth the view that the evidence was tainted because the FBI did not get a search warrant.[2]
The 2015Steven Spielberg filmBridge of Spies includes a scene that dramatizes James B. Donovan, portrayed byTom Hanks, arguing the case before the Supreme Court.
Works related toAbel v. United States at Wikisource