New York v. Class, 475 U.S. 106 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court held that a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment when police look for a vehicle identification numbers after they have developed reasonable suspicion.

Shortly after removing the papers, McNamee spotted the handle of a .22 caliber pistol protruding from underneath a seat.

However, the New York Court of Appeals reversed his conviction, and ruled that there was little to no justification for the officers to enter the vehicle as Class could have removed the papers himself.

[2] In a 5–4 decision, the Court ruled that since a VIN had to legally be in plain view, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Since Officer McNamee only entered the vehicle to remove the papers obstructing the VIN, the search was unintrusive in this case.