Preview

The Evolution of the Exclusionary Rule

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1733 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Evolution of the Exclusionary Rule
The Evolution of the Exclusionary Rule
A Historical Analysis And How It Stand Today

April Herald
Criminal Justice
Abstract
From historical analysis, this work highlights key cases that have influenced the evolution of the Exclusionary rule and where it stands today. The purpose of this paper is to inform people of the importance of our constitutional rights, especially the fourth amendment when concerning a criminal prosecution. The exclusionary rule is set in place to ensure justice be served and the accused are treated equally. If you have ever found yourself with a criminal status you should be sure that you were or are treated equal and that you know the law. There has been numerous cases that can be used to show the importance of the exclusionary rule were the prosecuted had their constitutional right violated by the court using illegal evidence, one example is Silverthorne Lumber Co v. United States. The exclusionary rule helps enforce these rights and has a long history. Also, these cases have helped make sure that our constitutional rights are being protected on a daily bases. The article ends supporting the success of the rule working as a deterrent.

Movies and television have portrayed the image of the police as having the authority to search the home of a suspect for criminal activity. The reality is that if a police officer were to obtain evidence without a valid warrant the evidence would more than likely not be admissible in court and a criminal could be set free without punishment. The Exclusionary Rule was created to ensure proper procedure.
The Exclusionary Rule is an extremely important subject that has been highly debated with regard to criminal law and the constitution. Supporters of the Rule believe that it is necessary to ensure that the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, does not protect alone in the Bill of Rights. A controversial topic, having opponents of the Rule,



References: Bandes, S. A. (2009). The Roberts Court and the Future of the Exclusionary Rule. American Constitution and Society for Law & Policy. Nasheri, H. (1996). The Exclusionary Rule: Differing Trends in Canada and the United States. Criminal Justice Review, 21(2), 1-19. Atkins, R. A. and Rubin, P. H. (2003) Effects of Criminal Procedure on Crime Rules: Mapping Out the Consequences of the Exclusionary Rule. Journal of Law & Economics, XLVI. Gittins, J. R. (2007). Excluding the Exclusionary Rule: Extending the Rationale of Hudson v. Michigan to Evidence Seized During Unauthorized Nighttime Searches. Brigham Young University Law Review, 2007(2), 451. Google. (2013). Exclusionary Rule: The Policy Debate. Retrieved March 3, 2010, fromhttp://law.jrank.org/pages/1106/Exclusionary-Rule-policy-debate.html

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Terry V. Ohio Case Brief

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Constitution, protecting them against unreasonable search and seizures. The court rejected the defenses opinion, in that the weapons were seized due to a lawful search incident to arrest. The motion to suppress was denied because the court found that the officer had cause to believe the men were acting suspiciously, the seizer and question was warranted and the officers own right to safety had the right the pat down the suspects’ outer clothing, believing that the suspects may be…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hall, Kermit L, eds. The Oxford guide to United States Supreme Court decisions New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.…

    • 2104 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mapp V. Ohio Case Study

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mapp v. Ohio is an important case that made history. For the reason it has to do the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment. All evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Federal Constitution is inadmissible in a criminal trial in a state court. Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U. S. 25, overruled insofar as it holds to the contrary. Pp. 367 U. S. 643-660.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Would one feel safe in their neighborhood knowing that guilty criminals are being let free every second? The exclusionary rule prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trail. There are many exclusions to the rule, which brings up the question of why the rule should even be carried out in the first place. Since the exclusionary rule is not stated in the constitution alternatives and changes can be made to the rule. A controversial topic always has people on both the pro and con side. Arguments against the rule convince many citizens that the exclusionary rule has little impact in the judicial world.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Merit case of Fernandez v. California is seeking to determine whether the Constitutional rights of Walter Fernandez were violated under the 4th Amendment when law enforcement conducted a search of his residence upon obtaining consent from his girlfriend, who was also a resident, after Fernandez was taken into custody (and had stated his objections to the search while at the scene). In Georgia v. Randolph (2006), in a 5 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court held that when two co-occupants are present and one consents to a search while the other refuses, the search is not constitutional. This paper will provide a statement of the decision, based on current law, research and issues that the writer has determined the Court should make including an analysis of the constitutional principles, Court precedents, facts of the case, and other relevant information.…

    • 1691 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Basically the Exclusionary rule as set forth by the US Supreme Court states that any evidence obtained by police through search and seizure, arrest, interrogations and stop and frisk situations or any other evidence despite its relevance can be excluded as evidence. The Weeks v. United States was basically the origin of the Exclusionary Rule in 1914. In Weeks v United States Mrs, Weeks was arrested for shoplifting and attempted to get a note to her husband about this. Law enforcement went to the residence and without a warrant searched the home and found illegal lottery tickets and removed everything in relation to the tickets charging him with a federal crime because there was evidence showing these were handled through the mail. Mr. Weeks attorney filed with the courts this was illegally obtained evidence and should be excluded.…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The exclusionary rule prohibits illegally obtained evidence from being used in a criminal trial (Hall, 2015). Furthermore, the exclusionary rule applies to prevent unconstitutionally obtained evidentiary submissions, and the rule is applicable to items or confessions (Hall, 2015). After reviewing the exclusionary rule I feel it should be applied to illegal arrests too, unless the police obtain sufficient evidence independent of the illegal arrest. In the case of State v. Eserjose police made an illegal arrest of the defendant for second-degree burglary; however, during an interview the Mr. Eserjose was read his Miranda rights, and he chose to waive his rights, ultimately confessing to the burglary (Ma, 2013). Subsequently, Mr. Eserjose’s…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A major case that helped further clarify the exclusionary rule in the justice system was the Davis v. The United States. The case regarded the admissibility of evidence obtained through unconstitutional searches and seizures derived from the fourth amendment. The implications for law enforcement and prosecution were also clarified by the exclusionary rule during the trial. Case Background Willie Davis was stopped by officers at a routine vehicle stop where he was asked for his name and decided to give a false name. Once the officers saw that Davis had given them a false name, he was arrested, and officers decided to search his vehicle.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Zalman, M. (2008). Criminal procedure: Constitution and society, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    References: Del Carmen, R. V. (2010). Criminal procedure: Law and practice. (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ideology of the Exclusionary Rule goes back as far as before Untied States gained its own independence. The Exclusionary Rule states that evidence obtained in a violation of the Constitution cannot be used in a criminal trial to prove guilt. Although this rule is not stated in the Constitution, it was established off of the rulings of the Supreme Court. The grey area of the Exclusionary Rule can be found here for that reason. Since the rule was set up based off the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court instead of being written in law, it leaves room for vagueness when trying to realize what classifies as an unconstitutional search.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reasons of why I support this statement is the exclusionary rule is such an amazing tool to use . The Forth Amendment is really an asset against unnecessary search and seizure. Instead of police and officers putting aside your constitutional rights if they're assuming you're guilty, they will instead have to work within the law to bring about…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Court History and Purpose

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    People in the United States attend court every day for different many reasons. Those reasons could be for traffic violations, civil law suits, or for unlawful criminal acts. No matter what they are all handled and disputed in a court of law. Courts are empowered to make fair and binding decisions upon the facts that are received. There are two types of courts; civil court and criminal court. It is very important that people understand and know the differences between civil and criminal courts. Civil courts handle resolutions between private parties and usually consist of one party suing the other for some type of monetary damages. Criminal courts on the other hand, try alleged offenders for suspected crimes committed, whereas the end result is either freedom for the offender or a prison cell.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zalman, M. (2002). Criminal procedure: Constitution and society (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Exclusionary Rule

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The exclusionary rule is the best legal tool that is used to regulate the police but it confuses the rest of the criminal justice system (Stuntz 1). It is set up as a separation-of-power principle with local governments. The warrant issuing process is what is used to keep the police from invading the privacy of an individual (Lynch 4). If the exclusionary rule was not in effect the police would rarely go through the process to get search warrants and would use the evidence found rummaging around a persons home, vehicle, or even the individual themselves, without his or her permission searching for something that could possibly incriminate them (Lynch 4).…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays