The Exclusionary Rule

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the exclusionary rule falls under the province of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures from agents of the state; and upon which the Supreme Court ruled in 1914 that any evidence obtained in unlawfully or illegally was inadmissible as evidence during a trial. The author reviews important cases that have shaped the scope and spirit of the exclusionary rule, such as Leon v. United States and Vernonia v. Acton. The paper studies criticisms against the exclusionary rule, including arguments that by letting criminals get their cases dismissed on technicalities, the exclusionary rule subverts the justice system.

Table of Contents
Definitions of the Exclusionary Rule
History of the Exclusionary Rule
Boyd v. United States
Weeks v. United States
Wolf v. Colorado
Mapp v. Ohio
Exclusions to the Exclusionary Rule
Criticisms of the Exclusionary Rule
Arguments in Defense of the Exclusionary Rule
Alternatives to the Exclusionary rule
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"One of Madison's proposals was based on the Virginia law against general search warrants. Thus, the proposed Bill of Rights included a provision to guarantee citizens protection against unreasonable searchers and seizures, a provision that eventually formed the foundation for the Fourth Amendment. Furthermore, Madison also pushed for a clause protecting people from becoming witnesses against themselves. Madison and his supporters were concerned over previous practices in Church tribunals, where confessions extracted through torture were then used against a defendant in Court. This clause in turn formed the basis of the modern Constitution's Fifth Amendment."

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