The supreme court ruling on the exclusionary rule is a disturbing and discordant note ringing in an amazing time of hope and good feelings, and even further illustrates the desperate need for non-ideologues and effective progressive justices on the supreme court.
Read about the decision here and a pretty interesting analysis here.
"The case began when methamphetamines and a gun were found after Bennie D. Herring, an Alabama man, was arrested based on police officers’ mistaken belief that he was subject to an outstanding arrest warrant." The fact that the warrant had been withdrawn did not stop the presiding judge in the case from allowing the evidence of the search. This bodes ill for anyone who drives a car or has had any kind of run in with law enforcement before.
This country has shifted away from a privacy focused view of law and shifted far more to an intrusive, police-state view of criminal law. During the period when the constitution was written, privacy principle seemed to be as follows: 'he who does nothing to trigger probably cause need not fear prosecution'. Now it seems that the tolerance of conservative courts of those who violate laws in a responsible manner (such as cultivating certain plants for personal consumption) are no longer protected from overreaching police. With the advances in infra-red and other sensor capabilities, even the walls of our own homes are no longer proof against scrutiny.
Now to be fair, I don't mind the idea that typographical errors should not cause evidence to be excluded, depending on the circumstances. Police are human too and I don't mind affording them the ability to do their jobs. However, from the minority opinion:
"Justice Ginsburg, joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer, wrote that the majority "underestimates the need for a forceful exclusionary rule and the gravity of record keeping violations," particularly given the heavy reliance by law enforcement on the electronic databases that "form the nervous system of contemporary criminal justice operations.""
Anyone who is familiar with cryptography and the birthday attack understands how dangerous these expanded databases are. As errors propagate, the probability that a 'typo' will become available to justify almost any kind of police behavior expands. While honest police officers aren't a concern, the activities of those that aren't are a great concern.
Let us not forget the unintended consequence of Justice Robert's majority opinion "That price, the chief justice wrote, "is, of course, letting guilty and possibly dangerous defendants go free." " Every measure that tightens the noose around the guilty tightens the noose around the innocent caught in the same trap. Given the unreasonably huge proportion of our population we imprison, especially for silly crimes, the pendulum has swung far, far too much to the side of the hanging judge.