Exclusionary Rule Essay

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Exclusionary Rule Evaluation History of the Exclusionary Rule The concepts behind the Fourth Amendment were not very useful for more than 100 years after becoming ratified. In 1914 the Exclusionary Rule first made way into the judicial system put in place by the Supreme Court in Weeks v. United States. In weeks v. United States the Exclusionary Rule was only applied to federal cases, it wasn’t until almost 50 years later in 1961; during historic case Mapp v. Ohio would extend the Exclusionary Rule to include state cases. Before Weeks v. United States, evidence in violation of constitutional rights was still used as long as the evidence seemed reasonable to the case. But it was ten years earlier in case Boyd v. United States which the Exclusionary Rule really found its beginning but the case was thrown out. Definition of the Exclusionary Rule The Exclusionary Rule 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” (Law, 2005,p.1). The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized (Law, Fourth Amendment, 2008,p.1). Purpose and Rationale The rationale behind the Exclusionary Rule is to deter law enforcement officials from obtaining items and information through illegal unconstitutional means. The idea was to hopefully cut down and end law

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