In Defense of the Exclusionary Rule

The attack upon the judicial rule that evidence seized in contravention of a person's constitutional rights shall be excluded from his trial, regardless how damaging to the prosecution's case-an attack advocated by Chief Justice Burger and President Reagan-rests upon a misunderstanding. This rule, the exclusionary rule, has not resulted in acquittals that would not otherwise have occurred. And it does, and has, protected the innocent as well as the guilty. The rule was fashioned by the Supreme Court of the United States to safeguard constitutional rights. These rights cannot be abridged constitutionally by the executive or the legislature; they can, but should not, be modified by their creators, the Justices, for they exist to check unconstitutional and illegal acts by agents of the State

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