The Pros And Cons Of The Exclusionary Rule

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The Exclusionary Rule made its first appearance in the judicial system when it was put there by the Supreme Court thanks to Weeks v. United States. At first the Exclusionary Rule was only used in federal cases, only after fifty years of being adopted by the Supreme Court was it used in state cases as well. Before Weeks v. United States, any and all evidence that was acquired illegally or that violated the peoples constitutional rights was still used, if it was practical to the circumstance. The definition of the Exclusionary Rule is, “a rule that forbids the introduction of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trial (The Free Dictionary, 2014).” The Fourth Amendment 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, 2008).”
The main purpose and rationale behind the Exclusionary Rule is to deter the criminal justice system from taking items and facts through illegal means. The notion was to try to expurgated and terminate law enforcement dishonesty. This meant that there would finally be law enforcement that would do their best to protect everyone’s individual rights because an officer now had to have probable cause before arresting anyone or seizing their property. After the Exclusionary Rule was put in place, any time after the criminal justice system made illegal searches and seizures, any evidence that was found was thrown out in court.
The Exclusionary Rule has three main points that keeps it running and fair. First, an illegal a...

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...antages to the Exclusionary Rule the advantages, in my opinion, far outweigh the disadvantages. It really is the only way to help avoid corruption. If the Exclusionary Rule wasn’t in place law enforcement would be able to come into anyone’s home and take anything they wanted to. I just don’t believe too much for obtaining evidence illegally, unless you happen upon the evidence, not breaking into a house.
In conclusion you will find that the Exclusionary Rule is actually nowhere in the Constitution, it was merely a judicial structure to make sure the Fourth Amendment was imposed. Even though there are a few exceptions to the rule, they really don’t over step the rule very much. Even though many criminals are released because of evidence obtained illegally, how can we continue to try and discourage police wrongdoing and also keep dangerous criminals off the streets?

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