United States v. Seljan

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

STOTLER, District Judge.

I

INTRODUCTION

International border search jurisprudence pertains to the lawfulness of searches conducted at, near, and distant from real borders. Defendant’s motion draws into issue “exit” searches of items leaving the United States via aircraft, namely, whether Customs’ searches of defendant’s international Federal Express (“FedEx”) document-sized packages which he sent from California to the Phillippines violated Fourth Amendment principles. Under the border search exception to the Fourth Amendment, such a search…