The Exclusionary Rule in the United States

"My opponent believes that, for the sake of this debate, we should assume that police offending constitutional rights will ALWAYS be caught and punished. Unfortunatly, I must reject this rule on the basis that it is not realistic to assume that all instances of police misconduct will be punished." What I meant is that in every scenario in which it is known that illegal evidence was obtained, it is also possible to punish the wrongdoers for obtaining illegal evidence. So in any situation in which the law is unable to enforce the repercussions of obtaining illegal evidence, it is also unable to enforce the exclusionary rule. ======== Contention 1: Disincentive for Misconduct A. Individuals are still legally protected without the exclusionary rule. And from a broader perspective, they are also socially protected. Police will only investigate a home if they have a good cause; that cause may not be legal, but in the mind of the policeman it must nonetheless be strong. If police are willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause of justice, then it is an acceptable sacrifice. B. The exclusionary rule can lead to the unjust arrest of well-intentioned law officers. As seen in Herring v. United States (http://www.supremecourtus.gov...) sometimes police will, with good intentions, breach the Fourth Amendment. The Exclusionary Rule can lead to the prosecution of fair and just law officers. C. It is impossible to enforce the exclusionary rule if the evidence is not known to have been obtained illegally. In these cases, the police can get away with breaking the fourth amendment, and so the exclusionary rule has failed to protect the citizens' supposed rights. D. "'[O]ther remedies have completely failed' to stop lawless police action." The original source has no evidence that other remedies have failed at all, much less "completely failed". My opponent's concluding sentence is an absurd proposition. Should we simply end all social repercussions and allow murderers to run free? The only perfect way to prevent crime is to execute each and every citizen. But this is absurd. Compromises must be made. Lawful punishment is just such a compromise; the exclusionary rule is not. ======== Contention 2: Respect for Constitutional Rights A. When law-abiding citizens commit a crime, some of their rights are revoked. Since so frequently the search and seizure uncovers legitimate evidence, such as in Herring v. United States (http://en.wikipedia.org...), the breach of the fourth amendment is usually no real breach at all, as the citizen in question was already a criminal. B. My opponent is basing his contention upon a flawed interpretation of the fourth amendment. An individual's temporary privacy is in the majority of cases less important than catching a harmful criminal; therefore, sacrificing a person's privacy is not "unreasonable". (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com...) The core purpose of the fourth amendment is to ensure that any intrusions of privacy "are not the random or arbitrary acts of government agents." (http://www.lectlaw.com...) As long as law officers meet the same legal repercussions that anyone else would meet, the spirit of the law is protected. Your rights are still secure. C. My opponent asserts that "the exclusionary rule is the only way to fully respect an individuals [sic] rights." I disagree with the following logic, but for the sake of argument I will accept it. By my opponent's logic, since the exclusionary rule is not guaranteed to work, it does not respect individuals' rights and is therefore not an acceptable rule. D. "Just because we got along fine with segreation for a hundred years doesn't mean that it's okay to racially segregate." We got along fine? Ask any African American, and I bet you they'll disagree. E. "The rule is a necessary measure to protect an individuals consitutional rights." We have the right not to be murdered or burglarized. Since we are participants in the social contract (http://www.iep.utm.edu...), it is the government's job to protect these rights. Additionally, the government not only must protect your rights, but must protect everyone's. The best way to do this is to get rid of the exclusionary rule. When it is a choice between allowing a minor and temporary invasion of privacy and allowing criminals to rob us of our possible life, liberty and property 55,000 times a year or more, the choice becomes clear. F. "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." It is impossible to be completely free; and there is a point at which one is so unsafe that there may not be any liberty left to have. Some liberty must be sacrificed in order to remain safe. A compromise must be made. ======== I thank my opponent for participating in this debate that is possibly the most challenging I've ever done. (I didn't realize this would be Policy! XD )