NCJ Number
99958
Date Published
1985
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This testimony presents the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) reasons for supporting legislation to restrict application of the exclusionary rule to cases where there has been real police misconduct.
Abstract
In the last Congress, the Senate passed S. 1764 providing for a good faith exception to the exclusionary rule, but the House did not enact the bill. Moreover, the Supreme Court in the Leon and Sheppard cases, in effect, carved out such an exception for cases involving search warrants and made the point that the rule was not constitutionally mandated. Applying the exclusionary rule to a situation where an officer acted on a reasonable belief that the search was proper does not deter police misconduct, since there was no misconduct. This reasoning should be applied to warrantless searches as well. DOJ proposes replacing 'a reasonable good faith belief' with 'an objectively reasonable belief' in S. 237, which is identical to the earlier S. 1764. It also recommends going beyond the fourth amendment context by adding a new section to title 18 specifically stating that except as provided by statute or rule of procedure, evidence which is otherwise admissible shall not be excluded or suppressed on the ground that the evidence was obtained in violation of a statute, rule, or regulation. Ten reference footnotes are included.