Criminology

            
             The exclusionary rule is a rule created by judicial decisions holding that evidence obtained through violations of the constitutional rights of the criminal defendant cannot be used in the trial. .
             The exclusionary rule was first established for federal prosecutions in the landmark case Weeks v. United States, in 1914. In this case local police illegally searched his residence and seized many of his personal effects including letters and lottery tickets showing his illegal activity. It wasn't until two years later that the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Weeks conviction and ruled that the evidence was seized illegally and could not be used in federal court. Although the Supreme Court didn't mention the phrase exclusionary rule, its decision created the rule, and the phrase was created later. In 1961, Mapp v. Ohio was the historic case that imposed the exclusionary rule to the states and on all state and local law enforcement officers as the primary procedural law that guides their actions. The courts felt that society's individual liberties were extremely important and law enforcement officials should follow the law along with every other member of society. .
             The first article, "In Defense of the Exclusionary Rule", supports the due process model. In this article the due process model is displayed by mentioning the ongoing debate between Conservative and Liberal political parties. Since these two parties are totally opposed to each other, whichever party is in power could ultimately decide the fate of our country. The positive effects of such a strategy are obvious in that criminals and criminal activity becomes the direct target of law enforcement. In this article it talks about how the conservatives of this country have been trying to abolish the exclusionary rule for more than thirty years. It then goes on in saying that the drive to abolish the exclusionary rule is fundamentally misguided, on constitutional grounds.