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08:57 - Friday, Jan. 16, 2009
WAKE UP, AMERICA!
HEY, AMERICA! how much longer will you sit and let the government erode and weaken your constitutional rights??getcha a cuppa coffee and a smoke, this diatribe will last a while!

TODAYS TOPIC is about one of my pet-peeves of government misuse and misinterpretation, THE FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION! i am inna uproar about the recent bushwacker supreme court decision involving the fourth amendment and the exclusionary rule! read and weep about what the bushwacker supreme court decided and tell me what you think!! hopefully, you will be as outraged as i am!

The Fourth Amendment Diluted

With a lamentable 5-to-4 ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court carved a new exception to the nearly century-old exclusionary rule, which forbids prosecutors from using evidence obtained by the police as the result of an improper search. The result was a meaningful dilution of Americans� Fourth Amendment protections and one more instance of the court�s conservative majority upsetting precedent without admitting that it is doing so.

The case centered on the 2004 arrest of Bennie Dean Herring by police officers in Coffee County, Ala., based on a mistaken belief that he was the subject of an outstanding warrant. It turned out that the warrant, although still in the computerized database of a neighboring town, had been withdrawn five months earlier. By the time the error was discovered, officers had stopped Mr. Herring, handcuffed him, searched him and his truck and found methamphetamine and an unloaded pistol.

No one disputed that Mr. Herring�s arrest lacked probable cause and that both the arrest and the search were therefore unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court declined to exclude the seized evidence, and upheld Mr. Herring�s conviction on drug and gun charges. The arrest was based on careless police record-keeping rather intentional misconduct, the court reasoned.

�To trigger the exclusionary rule,� Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, �police conduct must be sufficiently deliberate that exclusion can meaningfully deter it, and sufficiently culpable that such deterrence is worth the price paid by the justice system.� The decision instructs judges to use a sliding scale to decide whether police misconduct warrants suppressing evidence.

That may seem reasonable, but it ignores both the inadequacy in the real world of using a cost-benefit calculus to deter unconstitutional law enforcement conduct, and the harm of involving the courts in trampling on people�s rights by admitting the fruits of an unconstitutional search. The decision also overlooks the importance of preserving a strong incentive for maintaining accurate, up-to-date records in an era of increased law-enforcement reliance on coordinated computer databases. These points were noted by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a thoughtful dissenting opinion.

The outcome was not very surprising. In recent years, the court has carved out several �good faith� exceptions to the exclusionary rule, and justices on the court�s right flank have made no secret of their ambition to carve out more. But until this week, those exceptions were limited to instances when the improper search resulted from nonpolice errors, say by judicial officers or a legislature � not solely from police behavior.

The danger of this ruling is that judges will read its broad reasoning to prevent the exclusion of evidence in cases of negligent police conduct going well beyond sloppy record-keeping.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of The United States

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The exclusionary rule

The exclusionary rule, stemming directly from the Fourth Amendment, states that no object may be used in court as evidence if obtained illegally or without a proper search warrant. This principle gained its constitutional roots back in 1921 in the case of Gouled vs. United States. This Supreme Court held that although the government could seize contraband, it could not seize property simply to use as evidence. There are certain cases where evidence from warrantless searches is admissible, such as when something is in plain view, at an airport, during an arrest, or when there is no time to obtain a warrant. The exclusionary rule prevents the police, in their zealousness to solve crimes, from violating the civil liberties of American citizens. Warrants can only be issued by judges if there is "probable cause" to believe that evidence of wrongdoing will be found. Warrants must contain the date, location, and time of a search, what is expected to be found, and the grounds for believing that such an object will be found in the place indicated. Many feel that these institutional safeguards are what distinguishes America from less civilized nations. They maintain that our civil liberties must be protected above all else. The problem in some peoples' minds is that a person should not have contraband in his/her possession to begin with. If a police officer or investigator uncovers contraband in an unconstitutional manner, they feel that there is no reason to pretend that the material does not exist. They maintain that criminals all too often escape justice by loopholes such as this. Some Americans are willing to sacrifice some of their Constitutional rights for a greater feeling of safety and security.

WAKE UP AMERICA!! DONT LET THE GOVERNMENT TAKE AWAY OR DILUTE YOUR GOD GIVEN RIGHTS!!! you want safety and security?? stay home and lock your doors! We as Americans SHOULD NOT be willing to sacrifice our constitutional rights UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOVER!

tell me what you think! do you agree with the supreme court decision? I DO NOT!~this effects all Americans! now is the time to speak out! What say ye?

HAVA GREAT LAST WEEKEND OF BUSH! let the festivities begin!!!

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