NCJ Number
187493
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 37 Issue: 3 Dated: Summer 2000 Pages: 1107-1142
Editor(s)
Stacey E. Ostfeld
Date Published
2000
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This article examines whether and to what extent the Equal Protection Clause offers a viable remedial alternative to the fourth amendment when law enforcement engages in racially discriminatory investigative practices.
Abstract
The article considers the constitutional basis of and policies supporting the exclusionary rule under the fourth amendment and examines whether they extend to the Equal Protection Clause in the criminal context. A series of opinions on this subject from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit strongly suggests creating an equal protection exclusionary rule remedy and extends a broad scope to this remedy when law enforcement engages in racial discrimination in "consensual" encounters and "pre-contact" investigations that do not implicate fourth amendment interests. The author contends the Sixth Circuit's opinions propose a sound and workable doctrine for an equal protection exclusionary rule and concludes the Equal Protection Clause provides a broad remedial alternative to the fourth amendment's exclusionary rule, particularly in terms of the need to show intentional discrimination that such a claim requires. Further, when an equal protection claim extends to demonstrate racial or other discrimination, the scope of an equal protection exclusionary rule should reach beyond the parameters of fourth amendment privacy interests to encompass any situation in which law enforcement exploits a person's race to obtain evidence. 233 footnotes