What is the Exclusionary Rule, and how did it evolve?

What will be an ideal response?


Under early English common law, an illegal search and seizure that produced incriminating evidence was allowed, and the evidence obtained was admissible in court. Surprisingly, federal law enforcement officers in the United States were permitted to follow the same rule until 1914.
In Weeks v. United States, the Court established what became known as the "Federal Exclusionary Rule." The Court ruled that any evidence unreasonably obtained by federal law enforcement officers could no longer be admissible in federal prosecutions.
After the Weeks decision, very few states adopted their own exclusionary rule applicable within their own states. Following Dolree Mapp's conviction and the denial of her appeals in the state courts, her case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Mapp v. Ohio, decided in 1961, established the rule that any evidence unreasonably searched and seized would no longer be admissible in any court-state or federal. The Exclusionary Rule was now applicable in all courts at all levels.

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