The Exclusionary Rule

Assignment 2 – Exclusionary Rule
By now, you should be familiar with the Exclusionary Rule, as established by Weeks v. United States, and expanded in Mapp v. Ohio. You should also be familiar with the concept of the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine, which resulted from Wong Sun v. United States. Your textbook discusses these in Chapter 10, as well as a number of exceptions to the Exclusionary Rule (and consequently the Fruit of The Poisonous Tree Doctrine) in the pages that follow. Some of the exceptions are Plain View, Exigency, Public Safety, Excited Utterance, Good Faith, Inevitable Discovery, and Independent Source.

Your assignment in this project is to provide your opinion as to what you feel is the most important court case in this area. I am not concerned with which court case you choose, so long as it deals with either the Exclusionary Rule or one of its exceptions. You also are not bound by the court cases in the Lippman textbook. If you are aware of another court decision (preferably by the US Supreme Court) that addresses the Exclusionary Rule in some fashion, feel free to use it.

You will not be required to do another case brief; you simply need to explain what the case was about, what the rationale for the decision was, what the decision’s impact on criminal justice has been, and why you feel the case is of special significance. I do not want to read whether you agree or disagree with the decision, or whether or not you think the decision is good. I want you to analyze the case and its decision, and explain why the case is important.

Below are the guidelines for the format of the paper:

The paper should be 2-3 pages in length
Typed
Double spaced
1” margins
Contain a cover sheet that has your name, the class name, essay number, the date, and the instructor’s name
Free from grammatical and spelling errors
APA format
Reference page
In-text citations
You should use a clear font that is highly readable. APA recommends usicixng 12 pt. Times New Roman font

Last Completed Projects