The exclusionary rule is designed to serve as a reminder to those in the criminal justice to adhere to the rules and not to violate individual rules. There is great confidence among the law enforcement officers and the prosecutors in the cases they handle through ensuring that justice is served. Losing a case because of a simple mistake or misunderstanding is not acceptable for the community. For instance, it can be very frustrating if someone losses bowling on the gutter simply because there was an error in the form. The exclusionary rule can be compared to a gutter ball in the bowling sport. If there is violation of the rule by either the prosecutor or law enforcers while gathering evidence, it is possible to have the court dismiss the case.
Rationale and Purpose
In most instance, cases are thrown out because of the exclusionary rule. The issue can be very challenging for the general public to understand. Most of the people will be very upset because a criminal has been set free due to the exclusionary rule. However, the primary goals of the exclusionary rules are to ensure that the criminal professionals, especially those in charge of law enforcement act accordingly while conducting investigations. Only one person in one hundred are set free because the judge dismisses the evidence in court by claiming it was obtained through an illegal procedure (Haskell, 2017). The dismissal of the evidence is a small price to pay for the exclusionary rule, and it is easy to conclude a tribunal editorial. What the tribunal fails to recognize is the large number of charges that did not make it to the trial point because some are dropped, and others get plea bargaining because of the exclusionary rule. The strict enforcement of the rule is to remind the law enforcers to respect the rights of other humans while gathering their evidence. The thinking falls under the model for due process (McGlynn, 2017). If there is leniency of any kind in the law, there will be slippery slopes that appertain to other rights presented in the constitution. Most of the criminals will be set free because of the leniency and the crime rate in the community will be high. The focus will be on the constitutional rights of the defendant and less on the crime they committed.
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Exceptions of the Rule
Over the years, several rulings have been given by the court on exceptions of the exclusionary rule which can be derived from the Old English Law or Common law. For instance, there are several exceptions in a search warrant on one's area of residence. In the mediaeval times, the belief that people had was that searching for a convict's house was the right thing that needed to be done (Exceptions to the Exclusionary Rule, n.p). The legend Willian Blackstone stipulates that the sheriff will need to justify his or her actions of breaking the doors. Matthew Hale, on the other hand, suggest that the most common practice is for the law enforcer to break the door if they are sure that the offender is within the premises, and if after calling them out and they refuse to open the door for whatever reasons (Zalman, 2011). There are court rulings presented in the millennial generation that provide more exceptions to the exclusionary rule. The current rulings are tuned towards the provision of safety to the citizens. There is the knock-and-announce requirement where the law enforcers will have to knock at the door and identify themselves. However, the exemption will only be applicable if the offender is known to the police or if the police believe that the person inside the building is armed and can cause harm (Turner & Weigend, 2019). Also, there is an exemption if the police believe that the offender can escape or terminate any evidence that is within the premises.
Cost and Benefit
The exclusionary law can be very costly to the safety of the community, the war against drugs and general criminal activities taking place in society. In exclusionary law the community will give criminal minded people the opportunity to continue with crime without the fear of being arrested easily. Crime rate will be high in the society and people will lose property worth thousands of money. However, the cost will be relevant if the main aim is to safeguard and maintain the integrity of the citizen's rights as stipulates in the constitution. More so, the exclusionary law is vital in the maintenance of honesty and integrity among criminal justice professionals. In comparison to other countries, American has been at the forefront in enforcing the exclusionary law, especially in the collection of evidence against an offender (Legal Information Institute, n.p). The focus is to remind the law enforcers to abide by the human's rights will conducting an arrest.
Personal Opinion
Leniency may be granted to an offender whose attorney finds some illegality in the procedure used in the collection of evidence. In some cases, the prosecutor can make a plea bargain for the serious charges towards the small charges, especially is they are not sure that the police will stand the judicial scrutiny. The court can consider making exceptions to the law when applicable reasons and careful thought is provided in each of the situations. The situations can be the safety of the law enforcers and the destruction of evidence. In general, the exclusionary law needs to be protected for the greater good of the whole community.
References
Exceptions to the Exclusionary Rule (n.d.) Retrieved from http://media.pearson.com/pcp/_94869_mutchnick_cj_uop.chapter6_issue2/index.html 2017
Haskell, E. (2017). Applying the Exclusionary rule in the face of changing law. Boston Bar Journal. Retrieved from Applying the Exclusionary Rule in the Face of Changing Law | Boston Bar Journal . Accessed 27 November 2020.
Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Exclusionary rule. Retrieved from Exclusionary Rule | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu) . Accessed 27 November 2020.
McGlynn, M. (2017). Competing exclusionary rules in mmultistate investigations: Resolving cconflicts of State search-and-seizure law. The Yale Law Journal, 127(2), 246-489.
Turner J.I., & Weigend T. (2019) The Purposes and Functions of Exclusionary Rules: A Comparative Overview. In: Gless S., Richter T. (eds) Do Exclusionary Rules Ensure a Fair Trial? Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 74. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12520-2_8
Zalman, M. (2011). Criminal Procedure: Constitution and Society (6th ed.). Prentice Hall, MA
