Opinion ID: 1745938
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Part I. Prospective Application of the 1982 Amendment

Text: Prior to passage of this amendment, Florida courts were free to provide its citizens with a higher standard of protection from governmental intrusion than that afforded by the Federal Constitution, Lavazzolli, 434 So.2d at 323. With this amendment, however, we are bound to follow the interpretations of the United States Supreme Court with relation to the fourth amendment, and provide no greater protection than those interpretations. Indeed, an exclusionary rule that was once constitutionally mandated in Florida can now be eliminated by judicial decision of the United States Supreme Court. We are furthermore bound by prospective decisions of that Court, even though the electors, in considering the 1982 amendment, could not have foreseen, nor ratified, those decisions. The argument has been advanced that this Court could not be bound by future decisions of this country's highest court. Nevertheless, decisions rendered by the United States Supreme Court after adoption of the 1982 amendment must have the same controlling weight as those rendered before. The language of article I, section 12, clearly indicates an intention to apply to all United States Supreme Court decisions regardless of when they are rendered.