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  • Essay / The Fourth Amendment and the Exclusionary Rule

    The Constitution is a “living document” that can evolve over time through the court system by challenging court cases and evaluating whether or not it was constitutional. In the 2012 case of Jones V. United States, an expired warrant was used to attach a GPS device to a car to obtain evidence from a suspected drug dealer. The court threw out vital evidence that would have allowed Jones to be prosecuted in order to protect the man's Fourth Amendment right. The Fourth Amendment will always take precedence in the courts to ensure that the rights of American citizens are upheld to the highest standards. The trial itself could and most likely will be affected because the defendant could walk away unscathed due to the exclusionary rule. Although there is some controversy over the possibility of excusing a crime due to a police officer's negligence, the exclusionary rule is only there to protect us from the possibility of police corruption.