In the case of Gail Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 2000, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that police officers have the right to arrest and jail individuals for minor traffic offenses. The case arose when Gail Atwater was arrested by a Texas police officer for not having her children secured in seat belts while driving. She was handcuffed, taken to jail and released on bail several hours later. Although she pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge and paid a $50 fine, she filed suit against the city claiming that her Fourth Amendment rights were violated because there wasn't probable cause for an arrest warrantless search or seizure under such circumstances. However, Justice David Souter wrote in his majority opinion that even though it may be rare for such arrests to occur over minor infractions like this one without any real threat posed by those involved; they are still constitutionally permissible as long as they're supported by probable cause.

In the dissenting opinion for Gail Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, Justice O'Connor argued that the majority's decision effectively gives police officers unbounded discretion to arrest individuals for minor offenses, which she believes is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable seizures. She contended that historically and legally, arrests for fine-only misdemeanors were not considered reasonable unless there was a breach of peace involved or if an offender refused to provide identification or comply with lawful orders. In this case, neither condition applied as Atwater had complied with all instructions given by Officer Turek and did not pose any threat to public safety. Therefore, her arrest was unnecessary and disproportionate in relation to her offense - failing to wear seatbelts herself and securing her children in seatbelts. O’Connor further warned about potential misuse of such broad authority granted by the court’s ruling where citizens could be arrested at will over trivial matters leading towards arbitrary enforcement practices.