Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/403/388/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 08:37:10+00:00

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While there is no explicit right to file a civil lawsuit against federal government officials who have violated the Fourth Amendment, this right can be inferred. This is because a constitutional protection would not be meaningful if there were no way to seek a remedy for a violation of it.
Webster Bivens was arrested without a warrant when six agents from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics searched his house. After the U.S. Commissioner in the case dismissed the drug charges, Bivens claimed that the agents had violated his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. The main issue was whether the Fourth Amendment offered a private cause of action, or whether Bivens' sole remedy was a state law injury claim based on his right to privacy.
At the trial level, the federal district court dismissed the case on the grounds that Bivens had only a claim under state law, and the Second Circuit affirmed the decision. The Supreme Court thus reviewed the decision not on the substantive merits of whether his rights were violated, but to determine whether such a claim was even appropriate to bring in federal court.
Brennan found that the absence of any federal remedy for the violation of a constitutional right could not be contemplated because every wrong must have a remedy. Therefore, he found it possible to infer a private right of action for damages even when it was not expressly provided. Brennan did leave open an exception when Congress has specifically provided that there may be no such cause of action, or when there are certain circumstances that would make a court reluctant to infer it, although he did not define what those circumstances might be. Broadly speaking, however, the majority opinion issued a clear rule that federal courts may award damages for any violations of constitutionallly protected interests by using traditional remedies such as money damages.
Black was largely concerned with burdening the already busy federal courts by expanding the range of cases that they could hear.
In furtherance of the majority's conclusions, Harlan pointed out that federal courts could issue injunctions for violations of constitutional rights. Money damages typically have been considered a less drastic remedy than injunctions, so it was logical to think that the courts could award them if they could award a more significant remedy. This concurrence also stated that constitutional rights are some of the most important that an individual can have, so it is particularly critical to give citizens the power to enforce them.
Blackmun agreed with Black and felt that this ruling would spawn a dramatic expansion of claims in federal court.
Raising separation of powers concerns, Burger voiced anxiety that the Court had stepped into the legislative role by departing too far from the Constitution's text.
This was the first case in which the Supreme Court found that a cause of action arose directly from part of the Constitution (here, the Fourth Amendment). Many of the cases that interpreted Bivens hinged on whether there was an available alternative remedy. If not, the Court interpreted the Bivens rule broadly in implying the right to a private cause of action even when Congress had suggested it did not exist. In these situations, it may be considered to have even extended the Bivens rule by diminishing the exceptions mentioned by the majority. On the other hand, the Court has been willing to find no private right of action implied when an alternative remedy is available, even if it is based on a slightly different legal theory.
Petitioner's complaint alleged that respondent agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, acting under color of federal authority, made a warrantless entry of his apartment, searched the apartment, and arrested him on narcotics charges. All of the acts were alleged to have been done without probable cause. Petitioner's suit to recover damages from the agents was dismissed by the District Court on the alternative grounds (1) that it failed to state a federal cause of action and (2) that respondents were immune from suit by virtue of their official position. The Court of Appeals affirmed on the first ground alone.
1. Petitioner's complaint states a federal cause of action under the Fourth Amendment for which damages are recoverable upon proof of injuries resulting from the federal agents' violation of that Amendment. Pp. 403 U. S. 390-397.
2. The Court does not reach the immunity question, which was not passed on by the Court of Appeals. Pp. 403 U. S. 397-398.
409 F.2d 718, reversed and remanded.
BRENNAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which DOUGLAS, STEWART, WHITE, and MARSHALL, JJ., joined. HARLAN, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, post, p. 403 U. S. 398. BURGER, C.J., post, p. 403 U. S. 411. BLACK, J., post, p. 403 U. S. 427, and BLACKMUN, J., post, p. 403 U. S. 430, filed dissenting opinions.
In Bell v. Hood, 327 U. S. 678 (1946), we reserved the question whether violation of that command by a federal agent acting under color of his authority gives rise to a cause of action for damages consequent upon his unconstitutional conduct. Today we hold that it does.
This case has its origin in an arrest and search carried out on the morning of November 26, 1965. Petitioner's complaint alleged that, on that day, respondents, agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics acting under claim of federal authority, entered his apartment and arrested him for alleged narcotics violations. The agents manacled petitioner in front of his wife and children, and threatened to arrest the entire family. They searched the apartment from stem to stern. Thereafter, petitioner was taken to the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, where he was interrogated, booked, and subjected to a visual strip search.
embarrassment, and mental suffering as a result of the agents' unlawful conduct, and sought $15,000 damages from each of them. The District Court, on respondents' motion, dismissed the complaint on the ground, inter alia, that it failed to state a cause of action. [Footnote 2] 276 F.Supp. 12 (EDNY 1967). The Court of Appeals, one judge concurring specially, [Footnote 3] affirmed on that basis. 409 F.2d 718 (CA2 1969). We granted certiorari. 399 U.S. 905 (1970). We reverse.
the state law tort suit by asserting that their actions were a valid exercise of federal power: if the agents were shown to have violated the Fourth Amendment, such a defense would be lost to them, and they would stand before the state law merely as private individuals. Candidly admitting that it is the policy of the Department of Justice to remove all such suits from the state to the federal courts for decision, [Footnote 4] respondents nevertheless urge that we uphold dismissal of petitioner's complaint in federal court and remit him to filing an action in the state courts in order that the case may properly be removed to the federal court for decision on the basis of state law.
"where federally protected rights have been invaded, it has been the rule from the beginning that courts will be alert to adjust their remedies so as to grant the necessary relief."
Bell v. Hood, 327 U.S. at 327 U. S. 684 (footnote omitted); see Bemis Bros. Bag Co. v. United States, 289 U. S. 28, 289 U. S. 36 (1933) (Cardozo, J.); The Western Maid, 257 U. S. 419, 257 U. S. 433 (1922) (Holmes, J.).
niceties of local trespass laws. Katz v. United States, 389 U. S. 347 (1967); Berger v. New York, 388 U. S. 41 (1967); Silverman v. United States, 365 U. S. 505, 365 U. S. 511 (1961). In light of these cases, respondents' argument that the Fourth Amendment serves only as a limitation on federal defenses to a state law claim, and not as an independent limitation upon the exercise of federal power, must be rejected.
except in the protection of the judicial tribunals, for rights which have been invaded by the officers of the government, professing to act in its name. There remains to him but the alternative of resistance, which may amount to crime."
United States v. Lee, 106 U. S. 196, 106 U. S. 219 (1882). [Footnote 8] Nor is it adequate to answer that state law may take into account the different status of one clothed with the authority of the Federal Government. For just as state law may not authorize federal agents to violate the Fourth Amendment, Byars v. United States, supra; Weeks v. United States, supra; In re Ayers, 123 U. S. 443, 123 U. S. 507 (1887), neither may state law undertake to limit the extent to which federal authority can be exercised. In re Neagle, 135 U. S. 1 (1890). The inevitable consequence of this dual limitation on state power is that the federal question becomes not merely a possible defense to the state law action, but an independent claim both necessary and sufficient to make out the plaintiff's cause of action. Cf. Boilermakers v. Hardeman, 401 U. S. 233, 401 U. S. 241 (1971).
it is . . . well settled that, where legal rights have been invaded, and a federal statute provides for a general right to sue for such invasion, federal courts may use any available remedy to make good the wrong done.
prohibition, but merely said to be in excess of the authority delegated to him by the Congress. Wheeldin v. Wheeler, 373 U. S. 647 (1963). Finally, we cannot accept respondents' formulation of the question as whether the availability of money damages is necessary to enforce the Fourth Amendment. For we have here no explicit congressional declaration that persons injured by a federal officer's violation of the Fourth Amendment may not recover money damages from the agents, but must instead be remitted to another remedy, equally effective in the view of Congress. The question is merely whether petitioner, if he can demonstrate an injury consequent upon the violation by federal agents of his Fourth Amendment rights, is entitled to redress his injury through a particular remedial mechanism normally available in the federal courts. Cf. J. I. Case Co. v. Borak, 377 U. S. 426, 377 U. S. 433 (1964); Jacobs v. United States, 290 U. S. 13, 290 U. S. 16 (1933).
"The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury."
Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 5 U. S. 163 (1803). Having concluded that petitioner's complaint states a cause of action under the Fourth Amendment, supra, at 403 U. S. 390-395, we hold that petitioner is entitled to recover money damages for any injuries he has suffered as a result of the agents' violation of the Amendment.
it here. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Petitioner's complaint does not explicitly state that the agents had no probable cause for his arrest, but it does allege that the arrest was "done unlawfully, unreasonably and contrary to law." App. 2. Petitioner's affidavit in support of his motion for summary judgment swears that the search was "without cause, consent or warrant," and that the arrest was "without cause, reason or warrant." App. 28.
"those federal agents who it is indicated by the records of the United States Attorney participated in the November 25, 1965, arrest of the [petitioner]."
App. 3. Five agents were ultimately served.
"the federal courts can . . . entertain this cause of action irrespective of whether a statute exists specifically authorizing a federal suit against federal officers for damages"
for acts such as those alleged. In his view, however, the critical point was recognition that some cause of action existed, albeit a state-created one, and, in consequence, he was willing, "as of now, to concur in the holding of the Court of Appeals." 409 F.2d at 726 (emphasis in original).
"[S]ince it is the present policy of the Department of Justice to remove to the federal courts all suits in state courts against federal officers for trespass or false imprisonment, a claim for relief, whether based on state common law or directly on the Fourth Amendment, will ultimately be heard in a federal court."
Brief for Respondents 13 (citations omitted); see 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a); Willingham v. Morgan, 395 U. S. 402 (1969). In light of this, it is difficult to understand our Brother BLACKMUN's complaint that our holding today "opens the door for another avalanche of new federal cases." Post at 403 U. S. 430. In estimating the magnitude of any such "avalanche," it is worth noting that a survey of comparable actions against state officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 found only 53 reported cases in 17 years (1951-1967) that survived a motion to dismiss. Ginger & Bell, Police Misconduct Litigation -- Plaintiff's Remedies, 15 Am.Jur. Trials 555, 580-590 (1968). Increasing this figure by 900% to allow for increases in rate and unreported cases, every federal district judge could expect to try one such case every 13 years.
New York at that time followed the common law rule that a private person may arrest another if the latter has in fact, committed a felony, and that, if such is the case, the presence or absence of probable cause is irrelevant to the legality of the arrest. See McLoughlin v. New York Edison Co., 252 N.Y. 202, 169 N.E. 277 (1929); cf. N.Y.Code Crim.Proc. § 183 (1958) for codification of the rule. Conspiracy to commit a federal crime was at the time a felony. Act of March 4, 1909, § 37, 35 Stat. 1096.
Conversely, we have in some instances rejected Fourth Amendment claims despite facts demonstrating that federal agents were acting in violation of local law. McGuire v. United States, 273 U. S. 95 (1927) (trespass ab initio); Hester v. United States, 265 U. S. 57 (1924) ("open fields" doctrine); cf. Burdeau v. McDowell, 256 U. S. 465 (1921) (possession of stolen property).
Similarly, although the Fourth Amendment confines an officer executing a search warrant strictly within the bounds set by the warrant, Marron v. United States, 275 U. S. 192, 275 U. S. 196 (1927); see Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U. S. 557, 394 U. S. 570-572 (1969) (STEWART, J., concurring in result), a private individual lawfully in the home of another will not normally be liable for trespass beyond the bounds of his invitation absent clear notice to that effect. See 1 F. Harper & F. James, The Law of Torts § 1.11 (1956).
Although no State has undertaken to limit the common law doctrine that one may use reasonable force to resist an unlawful arrest by a private person, at least two States have outlawed resistance to an unlawful arrest sought to be made by a person known to be an officer of the law. R.I.Gen.Laws § 12-7-10 (1969); State v. Koonce, 89 N.J.Super. 169, 180-184, 214 A.2d 428, 433-436 (1965).
My initial view of this case was that the Court of Appeals was correct in dismissing the complaint, but, for reasons stated in this opinion, I am now persuaded to the contrary. Accordingly, I join in the judgment of reversal.
"The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions wherein the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000 exclusive of interest and costs, and arises under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States."
The District Court dismissed the complaint for lack of federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a) and failure to state a claim for which relief may be granted. 276 F. Supp 12 (EDNY 1967). On appeal, the Court of Appeals concluded, on the basis of this Court's decision in Bell v. Hood, 327 U. S. 678 (1946), that petitioner's claim for damages did "[arise] under the Constitution"
within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a); but the District Court's judgment was affirmed on the ground that the complaint failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted. 409 F.2d 718 (CA2 1969).
In so concluding, Chief Judge Lumbard's opinion reasoned, in essence, that: (1) the framers of the Fourth Amendment did not appear to contemplate a "wholly new federal cause of action founded directly on the Fourth Amendment," Id. at 721, and (2) while the federal courts had power under a general grant of jurisdiction to imply a federal remedy for the enforcement of a constitutional right, they should do so only when the absence of alternative remedies renders the constitutional command a "mere form of words.'" Id. at 723. The Government takes essentially the same position here. Brief for Respondents 4-5. And two members of the Court add the contention that we lack the constitutional power to accord Bivens a remedy for damages in the absence of congressional action creating "a federal cause of action for damages for an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment." Opinion of MR. JUSTICE BLACK, post at 403 U. S. 427; see also opinion of THE CHIEF JUSTICE, post at 403 U. S. 418, 403 U. S. 422.
For the reasons set forth below, I am of the opinion that federal courts do have the power to award damages for violation of "constitutionally protected interests," and I agree with the Court that a traditional judicial remedy such as damages is appropriate to the vindication of the personal interests protected by the Fourth Amendment.
entirely free of ambiguity, [Footnote 2/2] I do not understand either the Government or my dissenting Brothers to maintain that Bivens' contention that he is entitled to be free from the type of official conduct prohibited by the Fourth Amendment depends on a decision by the State in which he resides to accord him a remedy. Such a position would be incompatible with the presumed availability of federal equitable relief if a proper showing can be made in terms of the ordinary principles governing equitable remedies. See Bell v. Hood, 327 U. S. 678, 327 U. S. 684 (1946). However broad a federal court's discretion concerning equitable remedies, it is absolutely clear -- at least after Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U. S. 64 (1938) -- that, in a nondiversity suit, a federal court's power to grant even equitable relief depends on the presence of a substantive right derived from federal law. Compare Guaranty Trust Co. v. York, 326 U. S. 99, 326 U. S. 105-107 (1945), with Holmberg v. Armbrecht, 327 U. S. 392, 327 U. S. 395 (1946). See also H. Hart & H. Wechsler, The Federal Courts and the Federal System 818-819 (1953).
remedy for the vindication of a federal constitutional right is placed by the Constitution itself exclusively in Congress' hands.
remedy to vindicate social policies which, by virtue of their inclusion in the Constitution, are aimed predominantly at restraining the Government as an instrument of the popular will.
(1939), might still bear on the comparative appropriateness of granting equitable relief as opposed to money damages. That possibility, however, relates not to whether the federal courts have the power to afford one type of remedy as opposed to the other, but rather to the criteria which should govern the exercise of our power. To that question I now pass.
"[i]f Congress had thought that federal officers should be subject to a law different than state law, it would have had no difficulty in saying so, as it did with respect to state officers. . . ."
the exercise of judicial power with respect to this class of legally protected interests. Brief for Respondents 21-22.
"it must be remembered that legislatures are ultimate guardians of the liberties and welfare of the people in quite as great a degree as the courts."
Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. Co. v. May, 194 U. S. 267, 194 U. S. 270 (1904). But it must also be recognized that the Bill of Rights is particularly intended to vindicate the interests of the individual in the face of the popular will as expressed in legislative majorities; at the very least, it strikes me as no more appropriate to await express congressional authorization of traditional judicial relief with regard to these legal interests than with respect to interests protected by federal statutes.
compensatory relief does not turn simply on the deterrent effect liability will have on federal official conduct. [Footnote 2/8] Damages as a traditional form of compensation for invasion of a legally protected interest may be entirely appropriate even if no substantial deterrent effects on future official lawlessness might be thought to result. Bivens, after all, has invoked judicial processes claiming entitlement to compensation for injuries resulting from allegedly lawless official behavior, if those injuries are properly compensable in money damages. I do not think a court of law -- vested with the power to accord a remedy -- should deny him his relief simply because he cannot show that future lawless conduct will thereby be deterred.
On the other hand, the limitations on state remedies for violation of common law rights by private citizens argue in favor of a federal damages remedy. The injuries inflicted by officials acting under color of law, while no less compensable in damages than those inflicted by private parties, are substantially different in kind, as the Court's opinion today discusses in detail. See Monroe v. Pape, 365 U. S. 167, 365 U. S. 195 (1961) (HARLAN, J., concurring). It seems to me entirely proper that these injuries be compensable according to uniform rules of federal law, especially in light of the very large element of federal law which must, in any event, control the scope of official defenses to liability. See Wheeldin v. Wheeler, 373 U. S. 647, 373 U. S. 652 (1963); Monroe v. Pape, supra, at 365 U. S. 194-195 (HARLAN, J., concurring); Howard v. Lyons, 360 U. S. 593 (1959). Certainly there is very little to be gained from the standpoint of federalism by preserving different rules of liability for federal officers dependent on the State where the injury occurs. Cf. United States v. Standard Oil Co., 332 U. S. 301, 332 U. S. 305-311 (1947).
position. It will be a rare case indeed in which an individual in Bivens' position will be able to obviate the harm by securing injunctive relief from any court. However desirable a direct remedy against the Government might be as a substitute for individual official liability, the sovereign still remains immune to suit. Finally, assuming Bivens' innocence of the crime charged, the "exclusionary rule" is simply irrelevant. For people in Bivens' shoes, it is damages or nothing.
The only substantial policy consideration advanced against recognition of a federal cause of action for violation of Fourth Amendment rights by federal officials is the incremental expenditure of judicial resources that will be necessitated by this class of litigation. There is, however, something ultimately self-defeating about this argument. For if, as the Government contends, damages will rarely be realized by plaintiffs in these cases because of jury hostility, the limited resources of the official concerned, etc., then I am not ready to assume that there will be a significant increase in the expenditure of judicial resources on these claims. Few responsible lawyers and plaintiffs are likely to choose the course of litigation if the statistical chances of success are truly de minimis. And I simply cannot agree with my Brother BLACK that the possibility of "frivolous" claims -- if defined simply as claims with no legal merit -- warrants closing the courthouse doors to people in Bivens' situation. There are other ways, short of that, of coping with frivolous lawsuits.
On the other hand, if -- as I believe is the case with respect, at least, to the most flagrant abuses of official power -- damages to some degree will be available when the option of litigation is chosen, then the question appears to be how Fourth Amendment interests rank on a scale of social values compared with, for example, the interests of stockholders defrauded by misleading proxies.
See J. I. Case Co. v. Borak, supra. Judicial resources, I am well aware, are increasingly scarce these days. Nonetheless, when we automatically close the courthouse door solely on this basis, we implicitly express a value judgment on the comparative importance of classes of legally protected interests. And current limitations upon the effective functioning of the courts arising from budgetary inadequacies should not be permitted to stand in the way of the recognition of otherwise sound constitutional principles.
Of course, for a variety of reasons, the remedy may not often be sought. See generally Foote, Tort Remedies for Police Violations of Individual Rights, 39 Minn.L.Rev. 493 (1955). And the countervailing interests in efficient law enforcement, of course, argue for a protective zone with respect to many types of Fourth Amendment violations. Cf. Barr v. Matteo, 360 U. S. 564 (1959) (opinion of HARLAN, J.). But, while I express no view on the immunity defense offered in the instant case, I deem it proper to venture the thought that, at the very least, such a remedy would be available for the most flagrant and patently unjustified sorts of police conduct. Although litigants may not often choose to seek relief, it is important, in a civilized society, that the judicial branch of the Nation's government stand ready to afford a remedy in these circumstances. It goes without saying that I intimate no view on the merits of petitioner's underlying claim.
Petitioner also asserted federal jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3), and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(4). Neither will support federal jurisdiction over the claim. See Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 409 F.2d 718, 720 n. 1 (CA2 1969).
"The observation may be made that the language of the proposal did not purport to create the right to be secure from unreasonable search and seizures but merely stated it as a right which already existed."
N. Lasson, History and Development of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution 100 n. 77 (1937), quoted in Brief for Respondents 11 n. 7. And, on the problem of federal equitable vindication of constitutional rights without regard to the presence of a "state-created right," see Hart, The Relations Between State and Federal Law, 54 Col.L.Rev. 489, 523-524 (1954), quoted in Brief for Respondents 17.
On this point, the choice of phraseology in the Fourth Amendment itself is singularly unpersuasive. The leading argument against a "Bill of Rights" was the fear that individual liberties not specified expressly would be taken as excluded. See generally, Lasson, supra, at 79-105. This circumstance alone might well explain why the authors of the Bill of Rights would opt for language which presumes the existence of a fundamental interest in liberty, albeit originally derived from the common law. See Entick v. Carrington, 19 How.St.Tr. 1029, 95 Eng.Rep. 807 (1765).
In truth, the legislative record as a whole behind the Bill of Rights is silent on the rather refined doctrinal question whether the framers considered the rights therein enumerated as dependent in the first instance on the decision of a State to accord legal status to the personal interests at stake. That is understandable, since the Government itself points out that general federal question jurisdiction was not extended to the federal district courts until 1875. Act of March 3, 1875, § 1, 18 Stat. 470. The most that can be drawn from this historical fact is that the authors of the Bill of Rights assumed the adequacy of common law remedies to vindicate the federally protected interest. One must first combine this assumption with contemporary modes of jurisprudential thought which appeared to link "rights" and "remedies" in a 1:1 correlation, cf. 5 U. S. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 5 U. S. 163 (1803), before reaching the conclusion that the framers are to be understood today as having created no federally protected interests. And, of course, that would simply require the conclusion that federal equitable relief would not lie to protect those interests guarded by the Fourth Amendment.
Professor Hart's observations concerning the "imperceptible steps" between In re Ayers, 123 U. S. 443 (1887), and Ex parte Young, 209 U. S. 123 (1908), see Hart, supra, fail to persuade me that the source of the legal interest asserted here is other than the Federal Constitution itself. In re Ayers concerned the precise question whether the Eleventh Amendment barred suit in a federal court for an injunction compelling a state officer to perform a contract to which the State was a party. Having concluded that the suit was inescapably a suit against the State under the Eleventh Amendment, the Court spoke of the presence of state-created rights as a distinguishing factor supporting the exercise of federal jurisdiction in other contract clause cases. The absence of a state-created right in In re Ayers served to distinguish that case from the perspective of the State's immunity to suit; Ayers simply does not speak to the analytically distinct question whether the Constitution is in the relevant sense a source of legal protection for the "rights" enumerated therein.
The Borak case is an especially clear example of the exercise of federal judicial power to accord damages as an appropriate remedy in the absence of any express statutory authorization of a federal cause of action. There, we "implied" -- from what can only be characterized as an "exclusively procedural provision" affording access to a federal forum, cf. Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills, 353 U. S. 448, 353 U. S. 462-463 (1957) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting) -- a private cause of action for damages for violation of § 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 48 Stat. 895, 15 U.S.C. § 78n(a). See § 27, 48 Stat. 902, 15 U.S.C. § 78aa. We did so in an area where federal regulation has been singularly comprehensive and elaborate administrative enforcement machinery had been provided. The exercise of judicial power involved in Borak simply cannot be justified in terms of statutory construction, see Hill, Constitutional Remedies, 69 Col.L.Rev. 1109, 1120-1121 (1969); nor did the Borak Court purport to do so. See Borak, supra, at 377 U. S. 432-434. The notion of "implying" a remedy, therefore, as applied to cases like Borak, can only refer to a process whereby the federal judiciary exercises a choice among traditionally available judicial remedies according to reasons related to the substantive social policy embodied in an act of positive law. See ibid., and Bell v. Hood, supra, at 327 U. S. 684.
With regard to a court's authority to grant an equitable remedy, the line between "subject matter" jurisdiction and remedial powers has undoubtedly been obscured by the fact that, historically, the "system of equity derived its doctrines, as well as its powers, from its mode of giving relief.'" See Guaranty Trust Co. v. York, supra, at 326 U. S. 105, quoting C. Langdell, Summary of Equity Pleading xxvii (1877). Perhaps this fact alone accounts for the suggestion sometimes made that a court's power to enjoin invasion of constitutionally protected interests derives directly from the Constitution. See Bell v. Hood, 71 F.Supp. 813, 819 (SD Cal.1947).
"Thus, even if the Constitution itself does not give rise to an inherent injunctive power to prevent its violation by governmental officials, there are strong reasons for inferring the existence of this power under any general grant of jurisdiction to the federal courts by Congress."
409 F.2d at 723. The description of the remedy as "inferred" cannot, of course, be intended to assimilate the judicial decision to accord such a remedy to any process of statutory construction. Rather, as with the cases concerning remedies, implied from statutory schemes, see n. 4, supra, the description of the remedy as "inferred" can only bear on the reasons offered to explain a judicial decision to accord or not to accord a particular remedy.
I express no view on the Government's suggestion that congressional authority to simply discard the remedy the Court today authorizes might be in doubt; nor do I understand the Court's opinion today to express any view on that particular question.
And I think it follows from this point that today's decision has little, if indeed any, bearing on the question whether a federal court may properly devise remedies -- other than traditionally available forms of judicial relief -- for the purpose of enforcing substantive social policies embodied in constitutional or statutory policies. Compare today's decision with Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U. S. 643 (1961), and Weeks v. United States, 232 U. S. 383 (1914). The Court today simply recognizes what has long been implicit in our decisions concerning equitable relief and remedies implied from statutory schemes; i.e., that a court of law vested with jurisdiction over the subject matter of a suit has the power -- and therefore the duty -- to make principled choices among traditional judicial remedies. Whether special prophylactic measures -- which at least arguably the exclusionary rule exemplifies, see Hill, The Bill of Rights and the Supervisory Power, 69 Col.L.Rev. 181, 182-185 (1969) -- are supportable on grounds other than a court's competence to select among traditional judicial remedies to make good the wrong done, cf. Bell v. Hood, supra, at 327 U. S. 684, is a separate question.
The same, of course, may not be true with respect to other types of constitutionally protected interests, and therefore the appropriateness of money damages may well vary with the nature of the personal interest asserted. See Monroe v. Pape, 365 U. S. 167, 365 U. S. 196 n. 5 (HARLAN, J., concurring).
"And if it be true that the holders of legislative power are careless or evil, yet the constitutional duty of the court remains untouched; it cannot rightly attempt to protect the people by undertaking a function not its own. On the other hand, by adhering rigidly to its own duty, the court will help, as nothing else can, to fix the spot where responsibility lies, and to bring down on that precise locality the thunderbolt of popular condemnation. . . . For that course -- the true course of judicial duty always -- will powerfully help to bring the people and their representatives to a sense of their own responsibility."
The rule has rested on a theory that suppression of evidence in these circumstances was imperative to deter law enforcement authorities from using improper methods to obtain evidence.
"The criminal is to go free because the constable has blundered. . . . A room is searched against the law, and the body of a murdered man is found. . . . The privacy of the home has been infringed, and the murderer goes free."
"Rejection of the evidence does nothing to punish the wrongdoing official, while it may, and likely will, release the wrongdoing defendant. It deprives society of its remedy against one lawbreaker because he has been pursued by another. It protects one against whom incriminating evidence is discovered, but does nothing to protect innocent persons who are the victims of illegal, but fruitless, searches."
alternative justifications for the suppression of important evidence in a criminal trial. Under one of these alternative theories, the rule's foundation is sifted to the "sporting contest" thesis that the government must "play the game fairly," and cannot be allowed to profit from its own illegal acts. Olmstead v. United States, 277 U. S. 438, 277 U. S. 469, 471 (1928) (dissenting opinions); see Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1, 392 U. S. 13 (1968). But the exclusionary rule does not ineluctably flow from a desire to ensure that government plays the "game" according to the rules. If an effective alternative remedy is available, concern for official observance of the law does not require adherence to the exclusionary rule. Nor is it easy to understand how a court can be thought to endorse a violation of the Fourth Amendment by allowing illegally seized evidence to be introduced against a defendant if an effective remedy is provided against the government.
The exclusionary rule has also been justified on the theory that the relationship between the Self-Incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Fourth Amendment requires the suppression of evidence seized in violation of the latter. Boyd v. United States, supra, at 116 U. S. 633 (dictum); Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U. S. 25, 338 U. S. 47, 48 (1949) (Rutledge, J., dissenting); Mapp v. Ohio, supra, at 367 U. S. 661-666 (BLACK, J., concurring).
evidence, but not from its production." Johnson v. United States, 228 U. S. 457, 228 U. S. 458 (1913).
It is clear, however, that neither of these theories undergirds the decided cases in this Court. Rather, the exclusionary rule has rested on the deterrent rationale -- the hope that law enforcement officials would be deterred from unlawful searches and seizures if the illegally seized, albeit trustworthy, evidence was suppressed often enough, and the courts persistently enough deprived them of any benefits they might have gained from their illegal conduct.
This evidentiary rule is unique to American jurisprudence. Although the English and Canadian legal systems are highly regarded, neither has adopted our rule. See Martin, The Exclusionary Rule Under Foreign Law -- Canada, 52 J.Crim.L.C. & P.S. 271, 272 (1961); Williams, The Exclusionary Rule Under Foreign Law -- England, 52 J.Crim.L.C. & P.S. 272 (1961).
it necessary now -- 55 years later -- to construct a remedy of its own.
Some clear demonstration of the benefits and effectiveness of the exclusionary rule is required to justify it in view of the high price it extracts from society -- the release of countless guilty criminals. See Allen, Federalism and the Fourth Amendment: A Requiem for Wolf, 1961 Sup.Ct.Rev. 1, 33 n. 172. But there is no empirical evidence to support the claim that the rule actually deters illegal conduct of law enforcement officials. Oaks, Studying the Exclusionary Rule in Search and Seizure, 37 U.Chi.L.Rev. 605, 7 (1970).
There are several reasons for this failure. The rule does not apply any direct sanction to the individual official whose illegal conduct results in the exclusion of evidence in a criminal trial. With rare exceptions, law enforcement agencies do not impose direct sanctions on the individual officer responsible for a particular judicial application of the suppression doctrine. Id. at 710. Thus, there is virtually nothing done to bring about a change in his practices. The immediate sanction triggered by the application of the rule is visited upon the prosecutor whose case against a criminal is either weakened or destroyed. The doctrine deprives the police in no real sense; except that apprehending wrongdoers is their business, police have no more stake in successful prosecutions than prosecutors or the public.
the importance of observing the constitutional demands in his instructions to the police."
(Emphasis added.) But the prosecutor who loses his case because of police misconduct is not an official in the police department; he can rarely set in motion any corrective action or administrative penalties. Moreover, he does not have control or direction over police procedures or police actions that lead to the exclusion of evidence. It is the rare exception when a prosecutor takes part in arrests, searches, or seizures so that he can guide police action.
Whatever educational effect the rule conceivably might have in theory is greatly diminished in fact by the realities of law enforcement work. Policemen do not have the time, inclination, or training to read and grasp the nuances of the appellate opinions that ultimately define the standards of conduct they are to follow. The issues that these decisions resolve often admit of neither easy nor obvious answers, as sharply divided courts on what is or is not "reasonable" amply demonstrate. [Footnote 3/4] Nor can judges, in all candor, forget that opinions sometimes lack helpful clarity.
rule's deterrent impact is diluted by the fact that there are large areas of police activity that do not result in criminal prosecutions -- hence the rule has virtually no applicability and no effect in such situations. Oaks, supra, at 720-724.
Today's holding seeks to fill one of the gaps of the suppression doctrine -- at the price of impinging on the legislative and policy functions that the Constitution vests in Congress. Nevertheless, the holding serves the useful purpose of exposing the fundamental weaknesses of the suppression doctrine. Suppressing unchallenged truth has set guilty criminals free, but demonstrably has neither deterred deliberate violations of the Fourth Amendment nor decreased those errors in judgment that will inevitably occur given the pressures inherent in police work having to do with serious crimes.
Although unfortunately ineffective, the exclusionary rule has increasingly been characterized by a single, monolithic, and drastic, judicial response to all official violations of legal norms. Inadvertent errors of judgment that do not work any grave injustice will inevitably occur under the pressure of police work. These honest mistakes have been treated in the same way as deliberate and flagrant Irvine-type violations of the Fourth Amendment. For example, in Miller v. United States, 357 U. S. 301, 357 U. S. 309-310 (1958), reliable evidence was suppressed because of a police officer's failure to say a "few more words" during the arrest and search of a known narcotics peddler.
occurred was surely insufficient in nature and extent to justify the drastic result dictated by the suppression doctrine. A fair trial by jury has resolved doubts as to Coolidge's guilt. But now his conviction on retrial is placed in serious question by the remand for a new trial -- years after the crime -- in which evidence that the New Hampshire courts found relevant and reliable will be withheld from the jury's consideration. It is hardly surprising that such results are viewed with incomprehension by nonlawyers in this country and lawyers, judges, and legal scholars the world over.
Freeing either a tiger or a mouse in a school room is an illegal act, but no rational person would suggest that these two acts should be punished in the same way. From time to time, judges have occasion to pass on regulations governing police procedures. I wonder what would be the judicial response to a police order authorizing "shoot to kill" with respect to every fugitive. It is easy to predict our collective wrath and outrage. We, in common with all rational minds, would say that the police response must relate to the gravity and need; that a "shoot" order might conceivably be tolerable to prevent the escape of a convicted killer, but surely not for a car thief, a pickpocket or a shoplifter.
"It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV. It is still more revolting if the grounds upon which it was laid down have vanished long since, and the rule simply persists from blind imitation of the past."
Holmes, The Path of the Law, 10 Harv.L.Rev. 457, 469 (1897).
In characterizing the suppression doctrine as an anomalous and ineffective mechanism with which to regulate law enforcement, I intend no reflection on the motivation of those members of this Court who hoped it would be a means of enforcing the Fourth Amendment. Judges cannot be faulted for being offended by arrests, searches, and seizures that violate the Bill of Rights or statutes intended to regulate public officials. But we can and should be faulted for clinging to an unworkable and irrational concept of law. My criticism is that we have taken so long to find better ways to accomplish these desired objectives. And there are better ways.
Instead of continuing to enforce the suppression doctrine inflexibly, rigidly, and mechanically, we should view it as one of the experimental steps in the great tradition of the common law, and acknowledge its shortcomings. But, in the same spirit, we should be prepared to discontinue what the experience of over half a century has shown neither deters errant officers nor affords a remedy to the totally innocent victims of official misconduct.
take that step, could raise yet new problems. Obviously the public interest would be poorly served if law enforcement officials were suddenly to gain the impression, however erroneous, that all constitutional restraints on police had somehow been removed -- that an open season on "criminals" had been declared. I am concerned lest some such mistaken impression might be fostered by a flat overruling of the suppression doctrine cases. For years, we have relied upon it as the exclusive remedy for unlawful official conduct; in a sense, we are in a situation akin to the narcotics addict whose dependence on drugs precludes any drastic or immediate withdrawal of the supposed prop, regardless of how futile its continued use may be.
Reasonable and effective substitutes can be formulated if Congress would take the lead, as it did, for example, in 1946 in the Federal Tort Claims Act. I see no insuperable obstacle to the elimination of the suppression doctrine if Congress would provide some meaningful and effective remedy against unlawful conduct by government officials.
purpose fully or because he failed to utter a "few more words." See Miller v. United States, supra. Jurors may well refuse to penalize a police officer at the behest of a person they believe to be a "criminal," and probably will not punish an officer for honest errors of judgment. In any event, an actual recovery depends on finding nonexempt assets of the police officer from which a judgment can be satisfied.
I conclude, therefore, that an entirely different remedy is necessary, but it is one that, in my view, is as much beyond judicial power as the step the Court takes today. Congress should develop an administrative or quasi-judicial remedy against the government itself to afford compensation and restitution for persons whose Fourth Amendment rights have been violated. The venerable doctrine of respondeat superior in our tort law provides an entirely appropriate conceptual basis for this remedy. If, for example, a security guard privately employed by a department store commits an assault or other tort on a customer such as an improper search, the victim has a simple and obvious remedy -- an action for money damages against the guard's employer, the department store. W. Prosser, The Law of Torts § 68, pp. 470-480 (3d ed.1964). [Footnote 3/5] Such a statutory scheme would have the added advantage of providing some remedy to the completely innocent persons who are sometimes the victims of illegal police conduct -- something that the suppression doctrine, of course, can never accomplish.
(e) a provision directing that no evidence, otherwise admissible, shall be excluded from any criminal proceeding because of violation of the Fourth Amendment.
I doubt that lawyers serving on such a tribunal would be swayed either by undue sympathy for officers or by the prejudice against "criminals" that has sometimes moved lay jurors to deny claims. In addition to awarding damages, the record of the police conduct that is condemned would undoubtedly become a relevant part of an officer's personnel file so that the need for additional training or disciplinary action could be identified, or his future usefulness as a public official evaluated. Finally, appellate judicial review could be made available on much the same basis that it is now provided as to district courts and regulatory agencies. This would leave to the courts the ultimate responsibility for determining and articulating standards.
would develop their own remedial systems on the federal model. Indeed, there is nothing to prevent a State from enacting a comparable statutory scheme without waiting for the Congress. Steps along these lines would move our system toward more responsible law enforcement, on the one hand, and away from the irrational and drastic results of the suppression doctrine, on the other. Independent of the alternative embraced in this dissenting opinion, I believe the time has come to reexamine the scope of the exclusionary rule and consider at least some narrowing of its thrust so as to eliminate the anomalies it has produced.
In a country that prides itself on innovation, inventive genius, and willingness to experiment, it is a paradox that we should cling for more than a half-century to a legal mechanism that was poorly designed and never really worked. I can only hope now that the Congress will manifest a willingness to view realistically the hard evidence of the half-century history of the suppression doctrine revealing thousands of cases in which the criminal was set free because the constable blundered and virtually no evidence that innocent victims of police error -- such as petitioner claims to be -- have been afforded meaningful redress.
violation of any of the provisions of this code shall be granted only if the court finds that such violation was substantial. In determining whether a violation is substantial, the court shall consider all the circumstances, including: "
"(a) the importance of the particular interest violated;"
"(b) the extent of deviation from lawful conduct;"
"(c) the extent to which the violation was willful;"
"(d) the extent to which privacy was invaded;"
"(e) the extent to which exclusion will tend to prevent violations of this Code;"
"(f) whether, but for the violation, the things seized would have been discovered; and"
"(g) the extent to which the violation prejudiced the moving party's ability to support his motion, or to defend himself in the proceeding in which the things seized are sought to be offered in evidence against him."
"(3) Fruits of Prior Unlawful Search. If a search or seizure is carried out in such a manner that things seized in the course of the search would be subject to a motion to suppress under subsection (1), and if as a result of such search or seizure other evidence is discovered subsequently and offered against a defendant, such evidence shall be subject to a motion to suppress unless the prosecution establishes that such evidence would probably have been discovered by law enforcement authorities irrespective of such search or seizure, and the court finds that exclusion of such evidence is not necessary to deter violations of this Code."
ALI, Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure §§ SS 8.02(2), (3), pp. 23-24 (Tent.Draft No. 4, 1971) (emphasis supplied).
"The Reporters wish to emphasize that they are not, as a matter of policy, wedded to the exclusionary rule as the sole or best means of enforcing the Fourth Amendment. See Oaks, Studying the Exclusionary Rule in Search and Seizure, 37 U. of Chi.L.Rev. 665 (1970). Paragraph (2) embodies what the Reporters hope is a more flexible approach to the problem, subject, of course, to constitutional requirements."
1. Barrett, Exclusion of Evidence Obtained by Illegal Searches -- A Comment on People vs. Cahan, 43 Calif.L.Rev. 565 (1955).
2. Burns, Mapp v. Ohio: An All-American Mistake, 19 DePaul L.Rev. 80 (1969).
3. Friendly, The Bill of Rights as a Code of Criminal Procedure, 53 Calif.L.Rev. 929, 951-954 (1965).
4. F. Inbau, J. Thompson, & C. Sowle, Cases and Comments on Criminal Justice: Criminal Law Administration 1-84 (3d ed.1968).
5. LaFave, Improving Police Performance Through the Exclusionary Rule (pts. 1 & 2), 30 Mo.L.Rev. 391, 566 (1965).
6. LaFave & Remington, Controlling the Police: The Judge's Role in Making and Reviewing Law Enforcement Decisions, 63 Mich.L.Rev. 987 (1965).
7. N. Morris & G. Hawkins, The Honest Politician's Guide to Crime Control 101 (1970).
8. Oaks, Studying the Exclusionary Rule in Search and Seizure, 37 U.Chi.L.Rev. 665 (1970).
9. Plumb, Illegal Enforcement of the Law, 24 Cornell L.Q. 337 (1939).
10. Schaefer, The Fourteenth Amendment and Sanctity of the Person, 64 Nw.U.L.Rev. 1 (1969).
11. Waite, Judges and the Crime Burden, 54 Mich.L.Rev. 169 (1955).
12. Waite, Evidence -- Police Regulation by Rules of Evidence, 42 Mich.L.Rev. 679 (1944).
13. Wigmore, Using Evidence Obtained by Illegal Search and Seizure, 8 A.B.A.J. 479 (1922).
14. 8 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 2184a (McNaughton rev.1961).
J. Thayer, O. Holmes, & F. Frankfurter, John Marshall 88 (Phoenix ed.1967).
The Court reached the issue of applying the Weeks doctrine to the States sua sponte.
What Cardozo suggested as an example of the potentially far-reaching consequences of the suppression doctrine was almost realized in Killough v. United States, 114 U.S. App. D.C. 305, 315 F.2d 241 (1962).
For example, in a case arising under Mapp, supra, state judges at every level of the state judiciary may find the police conduct proper. On federal habeas corpus, a district judge and a court of appeals might agree. Yet, in these circumstances, this Court, reviewing the case as much as 10 years later, might reverse by a narrow margin. In these circumstances, it is difficult to conclude that the policeman has violated some rule that he should have known was a restriction on his authority.
Damage verdicts for such acts are often sufficient in size to provide an effective deterrent and stimulate employers to corrective action.
Electronic eavesdropping presents special problems. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2520 (1964 ed., Supp. V).
Any such legislation should emphasize the interdependence between the waiver of sovereign immunity and the elimination of the judicially created exclusionary rule so that, if the legislative determination to repudiate the exclusionary rule falls, the entire statutory scheme would fall.
federal officials who violate the Fourth Amendment in the performance of their duties. But the point of this case and the fatal weakness in the Court's judgment is that neither Congress nor the State of New York has enacted legislation creating such a right of action. For us to do so is, in my judgment, an exercise of power that the Constitution does not give us.
Even if we had the legislative power to create a remedy, there are many reasons why we should decline to create a cause of action where none has existed since the formation of our Government. The courts of the United States, as well as those of the States, are choked with lawsuits. The number of cases on the docket of this Court have reached an unprecedented volume in recent years. A majority of these cases are brought by citizens with substantial complaints -- persons who are physically or economically injured by torts or frauds or governmental infringement of their rights; persons who have been unjustly deprived of their liberty or their property; and persons who have not yet received the equal opportunity in education, employment, and pursuit of happiness that was the dream of our forefathers. Unfortunately, there have also been a growing number of frivolous lawsuits, particularly actions for damages against law enforcement officers whose conduct has been judicially sanctioned by state trial and appellate courts and, in many instances, even by this Court. My fellow Justices on this Court and our brethren throughout the federal judiciary know only too well the time-consuming task of conscientiously poring over hundreds of thousands of pages of factual allegations of misconduct by police, judicial, and corrections officials. Of course, there are instances of legitimate grievances, but legislators might well desire to devote judicial resources to other problems of a more serious nature.
We sit at the top of a judicial system accused by some of nearing the point of collapse. Many criminal defendants do not receive speedy trials, and neither society nor the accused are assured of justice when inordinate delays occur. Citizens must wait years to litigate their private civil suits. Substantial changes in correctional and parole systems demand the attention of the lawmakers and the judiciary. If I were a legislator, I might well find these and other needs so pressing as to make me believe that the resources of lawyers and judges should be devoted to them, rather than to civil damage actions against officers who generally strive to perform within constitutional bounds. There is also a real danger that such suits might deter officials from the proper and honest performance of their duties.
I assert, but it seems to me to be a matter of common understanding that the business of the judiciary is to interpret the laws, and not to make them.
I, too, dissent. I do so largely for the reasons expressed in Chief Judge Lumbard's thoughtful and scholarly opinion for the Court of Appeals. But I also feel that the judicial legislation, which the Court by its opinion today concededly is effectuating, opens the door for another avalanche of new federal cases. Whenever a suspect imagines, or chooses to assert, that a Fourth Amendment right has been violated, he will now immediately sue the federal officer in federal court. This will tend to stultify proper law enforcement, and to make the day's labor for the honest and conscientious officer even more onerous and more critical. Why the Court moves in this direction at this time of our history, I do not know. The Fourth Amendment was adopted in 1791, and, in all the intervening years, neither the Congress nor the Court has seen fit to take this step. I had thought that, for the truly aggrieved person, other quite adequate remedies have always been available. If not, it is the Congress, and not this Court, that should act.

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