The Supreme Court's interpretations of constitutional guarantees have produced seven “exclusionary rules” which prevent prosecutors from introducing evidence of guilt in criminal trials. By requiring the suppression of probative evidence, these rules increase the difficulty of convicting offenders and can enable some criminals to avoid conviction and punishment. They are of enormous practical and theoretical importance and are graphic reflections of the unavoidable tensions between liberty and security. This book contains in-depth analyses of these exclusion doctrines. The text begins with an ... More

The Supreme Court's interpretations of constitutional guarantees have produced seven “exclusionary rules” which prevent prosecutors from introducing evidence of guilt in criminal trials. By requiring the suppression of probative evidence, these rules increase the difficulty of convicting offenders and can enable some criminals to avoid conviction and punishment. They are of enormous practical and theoretical importance and are graphic reflections of the unavoidable tensions between liberty and security. This book contains in-depth analyses of these exclusion doctrines. The text begins with an extensive treatment of the Fourth Amendment rule which bars evidence produced by unreasonable searches or seizures. It then addresses three distinct doctrines that exclude confessions—the due process and privilege against compelled self-incrimination bar to coerced confessions, Miranda's presumption that certain confessions are inadmissible, and the Massiah doctrine's Sixth Amendment right to counsel bar to incriminating statements. The book next explains two prohibitions on eyewitness identification evidence—one rooted in the Sixth Amendment right to counsel and another grounded in the due process guarantee. Finally, it explores the exclusion of hearsay required by the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause. The book presents the histories of the exclusionary rules, analyzes their justifications and their legitimacy, and explains their doctrinal and operational nuances. By juxtaposing the rules and highlighting their distinctive characters and attributes, the text exposes the risks of treating all suppression doctrines as if they were identical. Moreover, it illuminates the costs and benefits of the protections afforded by the Bill of Rights and of the constraints it imposes upon American criminal justice systems.