362
O'Connor, J., dissenting
vidual has committed even a very minor criminal offense in his presence, he may, without violating the Fourth Amendment, arrest the offender." Ante, at 354. This rule is not only unsupported by our precedent, but runs contrary to the principles that lie at the core of the Fourth Amendment.
As the majority tacitly acknowledges, we have never considered the precise question presented here, namely, the constitutionality of a warrantless arrest for an offense punishable only by fine. Cf. ibid. Indeed, on the rare occasions that Members of this Court have contemplated such an arrest, they have indicated disapproval. See, e. g., Gustafson v. Florida, 414 U. S. 260, 266-267 (1973) (Stewart, J., concurring) ("[A] persuasive claim might have been made . . . that the custodial arrest of the petitioner for a minor traffic offense violated his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. But no such claim has been made"); United States v. Robinson, 414 U. S. 218, 238, n. 2 (1973) (Powell, J., concurring) (the validity of a custodial arrest for a minor traffic offense is not "self-evident").
To be sure, we have held that the existence of probable cause is a necessary condition for an arrest. See Dunaway v. New York, 442 U. S. 200, 213-214 (1979). And in the case of felonies punishable by a term of imprisonment, we have held that the existence of probable cause is also a sufficient condition for an arrest. See United States v. Watson, 423 U. S. 411, 416-417 (1976). In Watson, however, there was a clear and consistently applied common law rule permitting warrantless felony arrests. See id., at 417-422. Accordingly, our inquiry ended there and we had no need to assess the reasonableness of such arrests by weighing individual liberty interests against state interests. Cf. Wyoming v. Houghton, supra, at 299-300; Tennessee v. Garner, supra, at 26 (O'Connor, J., dissenting) (criticizing majority for disregarding undisputed common law rule).
Here, however, we have no such luxury. The Court's thorough exegesis makes it abundantly clear that warrantless
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