Exclusionary rule in criminal procedure and evidence law

¶ … Exclusionary Rule

Criminal Justice

The Exclusionary Rule is a significant and difficult to consider and discuss. The Exclusionary Rule is a rule that holds law enforcement accountable to the legal system and the justice system. The Exclusionary Rule essentially mandates that all evidence to be permissible in a court of law must be obtained legally and through actions of relevant law enforcement agencies lawfully. This rule may seem like it is in favor of criminals or alleged criminals, but in a system, there need to be checks and balances. The American justice system is predicated on an attitude of "guilty until proven innocent" not, "when they seem fairly guilty they probably are." The Exclusionary Rule holds the police accountable for their actions. Frankly, there is evidence and a long history of corruption within law enforcement in the United States. This corruption sometimes has to do with evidence tampering; sometimes it is something otherwise. The point is, there are enough corrupt cops already with the rule in place; the corruption would only extend if this rule were not present. I think there are a number of both corrupt and dedicated cops who put their lives in risk for living that already do whatever they can to obtain evidence. If the rule did not exist, cops would clearly have the power to do whatever they wanted in order to produce evidence in investigations against alleged criminals.

Those who are critical of the American legal and justice systems may contend that even with the Exclusionary Rule, law enforcement finds ways to enter legally inadmissible evidence into investigations, some of which lead to convictions. Without the Exclusionary Rule, other fundamental aspects of the American justice system would rapidly decay and/or become completely hollow. What would the Bill of Rights mean without the Exclusionary Rule? How would the courts be able to perform due process without this rule? Due process and the Bill of Rights, and perhaps other aspects of the Constitution would become hollow or moot or fallacy. Even if only certain aspects of the Constitution became obsolete, the damage to the American people, American society, and America's national identity would suffer substantial damage.

Other countries would perceive a blatant and likely irrevocable blow to rights in America as weakness or at least a sign that America is certain kind of country and not the one it purports itself to be. Who knows how the American public would react if the Exclusionary Rule were no longer valid. Certainly there would be some citizens that would leave America. It is possible that some Americans would organize, protest, and fight the loss of this rule. Rules about technicalities are necessary and crucial whether they are in sports or in the law. We have to follow the rules or else what is the point of having the system at all. We might as well not have a legal system and increase or expand law enforcement. Once people get arrested, they will likely be convicted and imprisoned.