In the case of County of Riverside and Cois Byrd, Sheriff of Riverside County v. McLaughlin, Donald Lee et al., 1990, the U.S Supreme Court addressed whether or not a delay in probable cause determination following an arrest violated the Fourth Amendment rights. The plaintiffs were arrested without warrants by police officers from Riverside County and held for more than two days before being brought before a magistrate judge who determined if there was probable cause for their arrests. They filed suit claiming that such delays violated their constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment which protects against unreasonable seizures. The court ruled in favor of McLaughlin stating that jurisdictions are required to provide prompt determinations within 48 hours after arrest unless they can demonstrate a bona fide emergency or other extraordinary circumstance justifying longer detention.

In the dissenting opinion for County of Riverside and Cois Byrd, Sheriff of Riverside County v. McLaughlin, Donald Lee et al., 1990, Justice Scalia argued that the majority's decision to establish a strict 48-hour deadline for probable cause hearings following warrantless arrests was arbitrary and unsupported by constitutional text or historical practice. He contended that this ruling would impose an unnecessary burden on law enforcement agencies without significantly enhancing protections against unjustified detention. Furthermore, he criticized the majority's reliance on lower court rulings rather than Supreme Court precedents in formulating their decision. In his view, these lower court decisions did not provide a sufficient basis for such a significant change in legal standards governing arrest procedures.