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Of course they're unsympathetic -- if they were merely good citizens who were hassled for no good reason, there wouldn't have been a charge. Improper search an
by jbooth 14y ago
Of course they're unsympathetic -- if they were merely good citizens who were hassled for no good reason, there wouldn't have been a charge.
Improper search and seizure leading to a trial is going to have found drugs/guns/whatever, by definition. That doesn't mean the rest of us should have our 4th amendment rights weakened.
- rayiner 14y agoI don't disagree with you. My point is that it's important to understand the context. The federal courts are absolutely clogged with appeals and habeas petitions from "bad people" who clearly did whatever they were charged with. People who are just trying to get off for serious crimes by grasping at technicalities (because they're in prison and have nothing better to do anyway). For all the skepticism about the police, they don't like losing prosecutions and as a result tend to go after slam-dunk cases. For the courts charged with maintaining these protections, it can be hard to keep a hard-line stance in favor of 4th/5th amendment protections in face of a docket that is chock full of actual criminals who actually deserve their sentences. It's an explanation, not a justification.