Ultimately, the Court relied most heavily on the original "Carroll v. United States" precedent instead of the more recent cases. Justice Stevens points out that the police in "Carroll" found contraband hidden in a compartment under the dashboard. "If it was reasonable for prohibition agents to rip open the upholstery in "Carroll"," Stevens argued, "it certainly would have been reasonable for them to look into a burlap sack stashed inside..." The Court further noted that prior to the "Chadwick" and "Sanders" cases, most courts, including the Supreme Court, routinely allowed containers inside of a car to be searched as part of a legal warrantless search of the car. The Court's ruling in "Ross" defends that practice: