Since 1961, the Supreme Court has held that evidence illegally obtained by states is not admissible in court. Beginning with the Rehnquist Court, however, the Curt has been carving out various exceptions to the rule. The most important and problematic of these exceptions is the...
exclusionary rule
I wrote a little while ago about the exclusionary rule in Canada. As Mckingford recently noted in comments, with respect to the case that was the centerpiece of the Liptak.
For people who care about civil liberties, it was definitely not a good thing when the Roberts Court decided to hear an exclusionary rule case this term. The Court's Wednesday.
Adam Liptak has an interesting article about the exclusionary rule and how the American use of the rule differs from other countries. He begins with a comparison to Canada, which requires that evidence obtained in an illegal search be excluded only if admitting the evidence...