INTRODUCTION: The doctrine of search incident to arrest provides that, as an incident to every lawful full custody arrest, law enforcement officers have an automatic right to conduct a thorough search of the arrestee and the area within his immediate control.' Although the Supreme Court has stated that the search incident to arrest exception to the fourth amendment's general requirement of a search warrant has been "settled from its first enunciation," the doctrine should be reexamined in terms of constitutional jurisprudence.