Background
The exclusionary rule is an effective method to prevent law enforcement organizations from violating the criminals’ constitutional rights to obtain evidence. In other words, it ensures the Fourth Amendment rights, protecting suspects from police wrongdoing (Harr et al., 2017). At present, there are heated debates concerning police brutality, the Fourth Amendment violations, and other types of misconduct in the United States. Therefore, it is crucial to examine the legality of the law enforcement procedures and analyze the exclusionary rule.
Search and Seizure
The first essential discussion in this topic concerns the differences and overlaps between the legal terms “search” and “seizure.” In the context of law enforcement, the former generally refers to the process of police examining the suspect’s property (Schwartzbach, 2021). Consequently, “seizure” is the procedure of securing the specific items, including drugs or tangible evidence against the suspect, acquired during the search (Harr et al., 2017). Both terms “search” and “seizure” are applicable only when the police “violates a reasonable expectation of privacy,” and the law enforcement should have sufficient evidence to conduct these procedures (Schwartzbach, 2021, par. 4). The second common element concerns that “search” and “seizure” are subjects to the Fourth Amendment. It implies that any unlawful procedure might result in excluding evidence from the court or leading to severe consequences for police officers (Harr, 2017). Lastly, both “search” and “seizure” might be justifiable without a warrant in case of immediate danger or if the suspect consents to the procedure (Schwartzbach, 2021). Ultimately, the two terms are essential to the understanding of the exclusionary rule and the Fourth Amendment rights violation.
One police procedure that relates to a search is the process of obtaining a search warrant. In regular circumstances, law enforcement should receive permission to search; otherwise, it might enact the protection granted by the Fourth Amendment (Schwartzbach, 2021). A search warrant is a special statement from the legal institutions that allows the police to conduct search and seizure (Harr et al., 2017). There is an extensive number of exceptions to this procedure since content, stop-and-frisk, or situations with immediate danger to one’s health enable warrantless searches (Schwartzbach, 2021). As a result, a search warrant serves as additional protection for the rights of criminal defendants, but it is possible for law enforcement organizations to bypass this procedure.
Ethical Issues
The violations of the Fourth Amendment might lead to severe consequences for police officers; nevertheless, they frequently must make swift decisions to prevent crime. This problem results in various ethical issues since obtaining a search warrant takes time, and any delay in decision-making might cost human lives during emergencies (Blumberg et al., 2018). It forces a moral dilemma on police officers who can either violate the Fourth Amendment and conduct a warrantless search-and-seizure procedure or risk the criminal escaping. Since the officers are taught to “use their judgement when applying the spirit of the law,” searches frequently lead to the Fourth Amendment violations (Blumberg et al., 2018, p. 4). This conflict between morality and legality is a significant problem in the American justice system. Unfortunately, there is no effective solution to this problem as the nature of law enforcement requires swift but ethical decisions from police officers. As a result, law enforcement organizations encounter a large number of ethical issues in their practice concerning “what should be done” and “what can be done.”
References
Blumberg, D. M., Papazoglou, K., & Creighton, S. (2018). Bruised badges: The moral risks of police work and a call for officer wellness. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience, 20(2), 1-14.
Harr, J. S., Hess, K. M., Orthmann, C. H., & Kingsbury, J. (2017). Constitutional law and the criminal justice system (7th Edition). Cengage Learning US.
Schwartzbach, M. (2021). When can the police search you or your property? Lawyers. Web.