In Robbins v. California, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that a warrantless search of plastic containers found during a vehicle stop violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. The case involved Stanley Dale Robbins, who was stopped by police for erratic driving. During an initial pat-down for weapons, officers discovered marijuana on his person and subsequently searched his car where they found two packages wrapped in opaque green plastic which contained additional drugs. The court held that these packages could not be opened without a warrant as there was no way to determine their contents from plain view or feel - thus falling outside the "plain-view" doctrine exception to warrant requirements established in previous cases such as Harris v United States (1968). This decision underscored the principle that all personal property is entitled to Fourth Amendment protections unless it falls under specific exceptions.

In the dissenting opinion for Robbins v. California, Justice Rehnquist disagreed with the majority's decision to suppress evidence found in a package wrapped in green opaque plastic during a warrantless search of Robbins' vehicle. He argued that there was no constitutional difference between this case and previous cases where similar packages were deemed suspicious enough to justify searches without warrants under the Fourth Amendment's "plain view" doctrine. According to him, it is unreasonable to expect police officers on patrol duties to make fine legal distinctions about what constitutes an 'immediately apparent' contraband when they encounter such situations. He also criticized the majority for introducing unnecessary confusion into Fourth Amendment jurisprudence by overruling prior precedents without providing clear guidelines for future law enforcement activities.