Exclusionary Rule

Exclusionary Rule

Introduction

In today's modern world freedom of speech and freedom of lifestyle have become an integral part of American society. Indeed, it is also true that rules, regulations and laws are required to govern any society. The most important thing to consider is that all rules, regulations and laws should be made for the progress and betterment of people, society and country. The exclusionary rule in United States is an important part of the criminal justice systems that is encapsulated by Fourth amendment (Clancy, 2008). The exclusionary rule explains that evidence collected through any illicit police conduct is identified as inadmissible evidence and cannot be used in any court of law against defendants. In addition, this rule also allows defendants to stop prosecution based on illegally collected evidence (Signorelli, 2010).

Similarly, the exclusionary rule also plays an important role in determining the limitation of police in relation to searches and seizures. In fact, the exclusionary rule is anchored by Fourth amendment, which believes that any house in the country is a consecrated place for people living there, and no one including police can enter the house without the consent of house owner (Signorelli, 2010). In other words, the rule is capable to protect the civil liberties of general public in the United States. It is also important to know that exclusionary rule has received a widespread attention as well as criticism from legal and literal circles in the United States. It has been seen in 20th century where some famous cases, including Weeks v. U.S. in 1914, Wolf v. Colorado in 1949 and Mapp v. Ohio in 1961, proceeded in the Supreme Court and raised controversies across the country. However, it is also noticeable that undesirable searches and warrants were common during British rule, which can be seen as a major cause of the adoption of Fourth amendment by the United States constitution (Lee, 2010).

History of Exclusionary Rule

The history of exclusionary rule can be traced out in 17th and 18th centuries where the present United States of America was ruled by then British government and the justice system was under the jurisdiction of the courts of England headed by the British Chief Justice. The roots of fourth amendment lie in the movement against the English writ organized by farmers. It is also important to know that English crown was the one who permitted customs officials to use these writs to control or prevent smuggling across the country. In fact, the main idea behind this was to empower customs officials with special privileges that allowed them to search smugglers or seize any smuggling activities (Clancy, 2008).

There is no doubt about the fact that this empowerment of customs officials gave them a free-hand to enter nay house and search. This, in turn, also led to an aggression among local farmers or community against the customs official and Madison took in stance to initiate resistance to this special empowerment of customs officials. Madison also came up with a solution and presented Bill of Rights ...