Rakas v. Illinois, , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, in which The Court held that the "legitimately on the property" requirement of Jones v. United States, for challenging the legality of a police search, was too broad. The majority opinion by then-Associate Justice Rehnquist held that a defendant need show a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place searched in order to be eligible to challenge the search. For example, an overnight guest in a friend's apartment has such "standing".

In the case at issue, the Court ruled that vehicular passengers in a car they did not own had no such legitimate expectation.

Subsequent History

In 1980's Rawlings v. Kentucky, the Court ruled that the test enunciated in Rakas -- whether the petitioner had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area searched -- is the exclusive test for determining whether a defendant may challenge a search.