Court Opinion

ID: 9426174
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:17:01.791042+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:25.420896
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Douglas,
dissenting.
I agree with my Brother Brennan that Almeida-Sanchez v. United States, 413 U. S. 266 (1973), reaffirmed traditional Fourth Amendment principles and that the purposes of the exclusionary rule compel exclusion of the unconstitutionally seized evidence in this case. I adhere to my view that a constitutional rule made retroactive in one case must be applied retroactively in all. See my dissent in Daniel v. Louisiana, 420 U. S. 31, 33 (1975), and cases cited. It is largely a matter of chance that we held the Border Patrol to the command of the Fourth Amendment in Almeida-Sanchez rather than in the case of this defendant. Equal justice does not permit a defendant’s fate to depend upon such a fortuity. The judgment below should be affirmed.