What is the exclusionary rule?

The exclusionary rule is a legal principle that prohibits courts from considering illegally obtained evidence. This rule applies to drug crimes in Minnesota and the rest of the United States. This rule means that if law enforcement officers violated the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unlawful search and seizure while conducting an investigation, any evidence they found can’t be used in court. The exclusionary rule was first established in the 1914 Supreme Court case of Weeks v. United States. The court determined that searches and seizures that were made without a valid search warrant were unconstitutional and that any evidence obtained through such searches could not be used in court. The court also stated that evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment could not be used against a defendant in a criminal case. In addition to the original exclusionary rule, Minnesota law has an additional rule known as the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine. This doctrine states that any evidence that is discovered as a result of or “fruits” of an unconstitutional search and seizure is inadmissible in court. This means that not only is the original evidence obtained unlawfully inadmissible, but so are any other pieces of evidence that are uncovered as a result of that violation. The exclusionary rule and the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine are designed to protect the individual rights of individuals and to ensure that law enforcement officers do not violate the rights of persons in the course of drug investigations. Though the exclusionary rule may seem harsh in some cases, it is a necessary tool for protecting the constitutional rights of all persons.

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What is the exclusionary rule?

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