...Case Study William Smith Professor Leona Williams July 15, 2014 Columbia Southern University This case study paper is focused on the exclusionary rule, which is defined as an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment by the Supreme Court that holds evidence seized in violation of the U.S. Constitution cannot be used in court against a defendant (Dempsey, J., Forst, L., 2011). What this rule pretty much means is that any evidence that is found to be seized in violation of the U.S. Constitution can be suppressed in court and not used against the arrested subject. The exclusionary rule evolved in U.S. law through a series of Supreme Court cases. Since at least 1914, the Supreme Court has been concerned with the use of illegal means by the police to seize evidence in violation of the Constitution, and then using that evidence to convict a defendant in court (Dempsey, J., Forst, L., 2011). The court continually warned state courts and law enforcement agencies that they must amend their procedures in order to comply with the U.S. Constitution or risk the exclusionary rule being imposed on them as well. By 1961, the Supreme Court, noting that the state courts had not amended their procedures to conform to the Constitution, applied the exclusionary rule to the state courts and law enforcement agencies, as well as federal ones. The following cases Weeks vs. United States, Rochin vs. California and Mapp vs. Ohio, I will compare and contrast each individual case. I will also...
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...Unit V Case Study BCJ-2001 March 29, 2016 Introduction The exclusionary rule applies to evidence which has been confiscated in infringement of the U.S. Constitution. There have been many alterations to the exclusionary rule and its applications throughout the years. The exclusionary rule, in addition to three court cases, which have had a direct impact on the rule, will be examined in this case study. The court cases are Weeks v. United States (1914), Rochin v. California (1952), and Mapp. Ohio (1961). The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and how it operates is accordance to the exclusionary rule, will also be studied. Additionally, this case study will examine logical searches and how they may have pertained to the three court cases. Exclusionary Rule The exclusionary rule is an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment by the Supreme Court, it is not part of the U.S. Constitution (Dempsey, 2013). When written, the Bill of Rights only applied to “agents of the federal government—not to those of local governments—the Court first applied the exclusionary rule only to federal courts and federal law enforcement officers.” (Dempsey, 2013, p.179) In court cases, the rule has progressed as an interpretation of the Fourth Amendment by the Supreme Court, which forbids any irrational search and seizure of a citizen. Illegally confiscated evidence cannot be utilized against a defendant in a court, as it violates the Fourth Amendment, thus, the evidence...
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...Bradley 1. The case study references one state statute. Identify it and explain what it prohibits. “The case study of State vs. Johnson references one specific state statue, 42.09(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code, Desecration of a Venerated Object. A person commits an offense if he/she intentionally or knowingly desecrates, a state or national flag. “Desecrate” means to deface, damage, destroy, vandalize and/or mistreat in a way that the actor knowingly will greatly offend one or more persons are like to observe or discover his/her action. This offense is a Class A misdemeanor “(Case Study Texas vs. Johnson, 2014). The statue prohibits intentionally or knowingly desecrating, destroying, damaging, burning, mistreating of a state or national flag in public that will seriously offend one or more persons and is witnessed by one or more persons. This statue was made to prohibit only flagrant acts of flag desecration that take place in a public setting or place (Case Study Texas vs. Johnson, 2014). 2. Which branch of government created the state statute? The state statue, 42.09(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code, Desecration of a Venerated Object, was created under legislative branch. The State’s interest is to prevent a breach of peace by prohibiting certain acts of flag desecration have been considered to be unrelated to the suppression of freedom of speech, the First Amendment of the Constitution. 3. The passage above also discusses one court case. Who were the parties...
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...DuHart Race, Religion, Culture Arkansas Baptist College Dr. Johnson, Instructor November 4, 2014 Tables of Contents I. Introduction Background/Statement of Problems pg. 3-4 Purpose of the Study pg. 5-12 Research Questions pg. 13 Significance of the Study pg. 14-19 II. Literature Review Methodology and Sampling Design Strategy pg. 20 Data Collection Procedures pg. 20 Data Analyzed pg. 21 Ethical Issues pg. 21 III. Results Conclusion pg. 21-22 References pg. 23 Appendix: I. Annotated Bibliography pg. 24-26 II. Survey Questions pg. 27 III. Results (Charted/Tables) pg. 28-31 Notes: I. Introduction Background/Statement of Problem Prayer in Public Schools The courts have ruled against prayer in school. Many agree with the decision; yet many disagree. Prayer should be allowed in public schools because it is already practiced. It prevents immoral acts, and it enhances the...
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...Background WikiLeaks states on its website: WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organization dedicated to bringing important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for independent sources around the world to leak information to our journalists. We publish material of ethical, political and historical significance while keeping the identity of our sources anonymous, thus providing a universal way for revealing of supposed and censored injustices. WikiLeaks, founded in 2006 by Australian Julian Assange and a small group of activist and computer experts, is a whistle-blowing website which “aims to bring to light secret information about governments and corporations” (“Times Topics”). “[I]t is the world’s first stateless news organization, because it belongs to the Internet rather than to the laws and culture of any one country” (Peters)....
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...other members of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Daniel v. Waters struck down the “equal time” law as it violated the First Amendment. In Steele v. Waters, the local court ruled in favor of Steele, citing the statute was in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment. However, the state of Tennessee then appealed the decision. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in favor of Steele and supported the ruling of the local court....
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...opportunities in the big picture, it does not seem to be the case when a close is taken at things like our judicial system. The amount of inequality that takes place in this country is atrocious. In her article The New Jim Crown, Michelle Alexander asks the question: “ how exactly does a formally colorblind criminal justice system achieve such racially discriminatory results? “ (p 100). She says that there are two reasons why such results occur. The first reason is because law enforcement agents have a lot more discretion than necessary when it comes to...
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...hysteria. Major witch hunts started and people were unfairly tried for their crimes, resulting in most cases death. The Salem Witch Trials had many crucial cases that were detailed in The Wonders of the Invisible World, which has affected today's government branches in a multitude of ways. In the work The Wonders of the Invisible World Cotton Mather, the court's record keeper, would write down the various trails that were presented, the evidence ,and outcomes of them. One of the most famous cases he recorded was the case of Martha Carrier, a suspected witch. Martha was accused of bewitching people, cows, and committing crimes with her spectre. She proceeded to plead not guilty to these charges. The court called numerous witnesses that each gave their case against Martha. The biggest being her children, who accused her of being a witch and turning them into witches. The others accused her using spectral evidence, which is the crime of the person using their spectre to commit deeds. After hearing...
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...ever watchful and mindful in their endeavors of delivering justice. Every day, all over US judges dispense justice to convicted persons and defendants. However, absolute justice ideally is hardly realizable across board since its effectiveness demands human infallibility. Although it might be even harder to reap justice, justice is achievable and pursuit for justice remains a noble order. In this case, a 12 years old boy, Christopher Pittman from the state of South Carolina on February 15, 2005 shot his two grandparents using his father’s shotgun while they lay on their beds, he then set the house on fire, drove his grandparents truck and fled with cash and weapons in his possession. The petitioner, Pittman was only 12 years of age when he committed this malicious acts. He was charged with premeditated murder and put on an adult court for trial. Christopher Pittman’s defense team claimed that young Christopher Pittman remained an innocent child because he still could not differentiate what was right or wrong while under influence of Zoloft, an antidepressant. The defense urged the court to consider Pitman a child thus unable to plan and execute premeditated murder as an adult will do. The defense urged the judges to consider an equivalent reaction of a juvenile actions of such magnitude by sending him to a juvenile system where he will be able to get psychiatric treatment alongside rehabilitation and not retributions. However, the prosecutor’s side argued that Christopher Pittman...
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...Amal Dahir May/11/2017 THE CASE STUDY The Movie disguised campaign ad or a journalistic documentary? Should the Court have created an exception in the law to permit its broadcast? What could it have done? The movie was a good example journalistic documentary and it was not disguised campaign. Also, the main purpose of the movie was to disgorge people to vote for her. In additional the movie made while she was in campaigning for the Democratic presidential. however, the Supreme Court did perfect step to permit the broadcast. Also, the law is clear only allowed to show the movie before 60 or 30 days before an election. I would the same what the court did which everyone is equal under the law. 2. Should the First Amendment protect corporate...
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...Gateway (Second Draft) Most of all of Supreme Court case from the time of Tinker V. Des Monies case have restricted the student rights of expression, student must be free to express themselves without unfair limits and the Tinker vs. Des Moines cases affirmed the rights of students to express themselves and the 1st Amendment prohibits laws that limit free expression. The case of Tinker v. Des Monies was rather a simple one. The case of whether the first amendment applied to students or just adults. The students argued that they should be allowed to wear armbands to display their praise for the people of the dead during the war. The staff thought this shouldn’t be allowed, mostly because of their influence of their actions might disrupt the learning environment of the class and (possibly) the school. This is understandable. They only wanted was best for the students. Although they are doing this for the best for the students, isn’t this a little restricting? Yeah sure, they don’t want the students to form a riot, but not allowing them to express their feelings from the war by not letting them wear arm bands, worse case not allowing them to return until they didn’t wear it? That’s the reason why the case was started in the first place. This could be avoided if they were allowed to wear the armbands in school…to a certain extent that is. Besides, this could be the exact reason why a riot might form, the restrictions is causing a stressful strain to the students and couldn’t...
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...The “Hosanna-Tabor” Case in the US Supreme Court Introduction “Evangelical Lutheran Church and School Hosanna-Tabor v. Commission for Equal Employment Opportunities-CIOE” is a famous case decided in January 2012 by the United States Supreme Court. It addressed the right to religious freedom and the establishment clause, the "ministerial exception" and the limits of state intervention in the internal affairs of a church. Arguably, "Hosanna-Tabor" is the most important case on religious freedom to reach the Supreme Court in the last 20 years. A case in which the Supreme Court established a milestone in the understanding of cases involving labor relations and religions institutions. More specifically on the scope of the term "ministerial exception" as well as the "establishment clause and free exercise", brought by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Analysis of the Decision The Supreme Court reviews, in this case, an argument between the interpretation of the constitutional provision in the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects people with disabilities in hiring and against dismissal without cause. The issues raised are as follows: Can a disabled person to be fired from his or hers job, even if the employer is a religious organization? What is the limit and the scope of the "ministerial exception" and the "free exercise clause", especially when there is a conflict with other values? More specifically, what was discussed was whether...
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...THE ARGUMENT FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION AT BAIL HEARINGS IN ALL CRIMINAL CASES IN STATE COURT The right to legal representation is generally accepted in the United States as a Constitutional right guaranteed to everyone. The Supreme Court promised the right to counsel to “ any person haled into court” in the infamous Gideon v Wainwright case. This case was instrumental in advancing the rights of indigent defendants through its proclamation that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in criminal proceedings should also apply to State Courts. However, Gideon’s promise to counsel has yet to completely guarantee equal access to justice when first appearing at judicial proceedings in state courts. Although defendants who can afford lawyers will usually hire one from the onset of a criminal proceeding, the right to counsel for indigent defendants (i.e. a state-provided attorney) is interpreted as attaching at varying stages of a prosecution in different states. Only eight states guarantee indigent defendants the right to legal counsel at the initial bail hearing. Representation at the initial bail hearing is critical as a lawyer’s intervention is crucial for obtaining a defendant’s release and for protecting a defendant’s due process right (guaranteed in the Fourteenth amendment) against an unreasonable denial of liberty during pretrial detention. The lack of counsel in pretrial proceedings can result in numerous consequences; some include a high number of pleas...
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...Terry v. Ohio is a landmark supreme court case that started on October 31st, 1963, in Cleveland, Ohio, when police officer Martin McFadden observed three men engaging in suspicious behavior. At first, two men, John W. Terry and Richard Chilton, were taking turns pacing up and down Euclid Avenue, stopping to peer into a storefront, then congregating at the street corner. Later, a third party (Katz), met the two at the corner then left abruptly after brief conversation. Officer McFadden then confronted the three men, searched their outer garments under the suspicion of criminal intent, and found a pistol on Terry and another on Chilton. Terry’s defense argued the gun found on Terry was inadmissible in court as evidence, stating that his 4th Amendment right to protection from unreasonable search and seizures was violated. The court denied the defendants' motion on the ground that Officer McFadden, on the basis of his experience, "had reasonable cause to believe . . . that the defendants were conducting themselves suspiciously, and some interrogation should be made of their action." Purely for his own protection, the court held, the officer had the right to pat down the outer clothing of these men, who he had reasonable cause to believe might be armed. The Supreme Court of Ohio dismissed their appeal on the ground that no “substantial constitutional question” was involved (Kemp, David. (2012). Terry v. Ohio 392 U.S. 1 (1968). U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas strongly disagreed...
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...Accepted: June 1, 2016 Abstract The debate regarding privacy versus security has been going on for some time now. The matter is complicated due to the fact that the concept of privacy is a subjective phenomenon, shaped by several factors such as cultural norms or geographical location. In a paradoxical situation, rapid advancements in technology are fast making the technology both the guardian and invader of the privacy. Governments and organizations around the globe are using technology to achieve their objectives in the name of security and convenience. It appears that sporadic fights of the proponents of privacy and security had eventually found an avenue to express their opinions i.e. the USA court system. In February 2016, FBI was able to obtain a court order requiring Apple to modify the security...
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