In the 1930 case of Husty et al. v. United States, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government, upholding a warrantless search and seizure under Prohibition laws. The defendants were suspected bootleggers whose car was seized by federal agents without a warrant on suspicion that it contained illegal alcohol. The defense argued this violated their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures as there was no probable cause for stopping or searching their vehicle without a warrant. However, the court held that given previous encounters with law enforcement where they had been found transporting illegal liquor in similar vehicles, officers had reasonable grounds to believe they were engaged in criminal activity again - thus constituting probable cause for an immediate search and seizure even without obtaining a formal warrant first. The ruling established precedent for what is now known as "automobile exception" to Fourth Amendment protections: if police have probable cause to believe there's evidence of crime inside someone's vehicle (which can be moved quickly), they may conduct an immediate search/seizure without needing prior judicial approval via warrants.

In the dissenting opinion for Husty et al. v. United States, Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to uphold a warrantless search of an automobile based on probable cause was inconsistent with Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. He contended that there were no exigent circumstances justifying a departure from the requirement of obtaining a warrant before conducting such a search. The mere mobility of an automobile did not constitute sufficient grounds for bypassing this constitutional safeguard, as law enforcement could have secured the vehicle while they obtained a warrant. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential abuses by police officers who might claim after-the-fact that they had probable cause to conduct unwarranted searches in order to justify their actions retroactively.