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The Exclusionary Rule

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The Exclusionary Rule
The Exclusionary Rule

Abstract
This paper will present the Exclusionary Rule and the original intentions for its enactment. It will discuss the importance of the rule and how it is a protection against an unlawful search and seizure and a violation of the rights provided by the Fourth Amendment. Also, this document will display the history of the Exclusionary Rule, with its first appearance in the case, Boyd v. United States in 1886. Weeks v. United States will show a better-established, stronger version of the exclusionary rule. Another expansion of the rule will be described by the Mapp v. Ohio case. In this paper, I will also state and describe the four primary exceptions to the exclusionary rule: Inevitable Discovery Doctrine, Valid Independent Source, Harmless Error, and the Good Faith Exception. I will subsequently describe the possible abuse of these exceptions and the complications with the exceptions. The document will examine statistical data regarding the exclusionary rule and conclude with my personal opinions regarding the exclusionary rule and its exceptions.

According to TheFreeDictionary.com, the Exclusionary Rule, by definition, is “the principle based on federal Constitutional Law that evidence illegally seized by law enforcement officers in violation of a suspect's right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures cannot be used against the suspect in a criminal prosecution”. This doctrine prevents the introduction of evidence at a trial that was obtained by illegal police activity and/or investigation and excludes it from being admissible as evidence in court.
The exclusionary rule was originally designed to exclude evidence that was illegally obtained by an officer by violation of a person’s Fourth Amendment rights. “The exclusionary rule also helps preserve judicial integrity by preventing judicial agreement in denying a person’s Fourth Amendment rights, deters police misconduct by making improperly obtained evidence


References: Retrieved May 20, 2012, from Answers.com, Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/boyd-v-united-states Boyd v http://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/criminal-procedure/criminal-procedure-keyed-to-kamisar/grand-jury-investigations/boyd-v-united-states-2/ Evaluation of the Exclusionary Rule (2011) Essortment.com, retrieved May 20, 2012 from May 20, 2012, from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Exclusionary+Rule. Fourth Amendment (n.d.) Legal Information Institute, Retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment Harr J., Hess, K., Orthmann, C. (2012). Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice System. Independent Source (2012) USLegal.com, Retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://definitions.uslegal.com/i/independent-source-rule/ Mapp v. Ohio (2012) Answers.com, retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://www.answers.com/topic/mapp-v-ohio Murray v. United States (2012) Findlaw.com, retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=487&invol=533 Rubin, P (1999) EFFECTS OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ON CRIME RATES: Mapping out the Consequences of the Exclusionary rule, retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://independent.org/pdf/working_papers/09_effects.pdf Weeks v. United States (2011).Cases.laws.com, retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://Cases.laws.com/Harvard-business-cases
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