[Edward.Fish]

The Fourth Amendment protects against UNREASONABLE searches and seizures. Thomas is saying that regardless of the unreasonable stop, the police had a duty to arrest the guy based on an outstanding warrant which adds up to a reasonable search incident to the arrest.

So, in essence the ends justify the means.

[equaviator]

Having the warrant issued constitutes probable cause for executing the warrant, doesn’t it?

[Jim W N]

Again, the search as a result of the unconstitutional stop would have been disallowed.

But once it was discovered there was an outstanding warrant for this guy’s arrest, the search that followed the legal arrest was a “search incident to arrest”, perfectly OK.

[zeugma]

So, in essence the ends justify the means.

Ding Ding! We have a winner!

Anyone who has been paying attention to the supreme court over the years will recognize that this is just one more bite taken out of our rights by the ever expanding police state. Each small bite of a piranha in and of themselves, is not really all that significant. It all of them taken together that is the danger.