Exclusionary rule

The exclusionary rule bars courts from admitting evidence obtained in violation of specified legal protections. Its scope and remedies vary by jurisdiction and context.

Motion to suppress: A request asking a court to exclude evidence from a criminal proceeding. This is the procedural step that commonly asks a judge to apply the rule.
Weeks v. United States: A 1914 U.S. Supreme Court decision excluding evidence obtained through an unlawful federal search. It established the federal exclusionary rule for evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution: The U.S. constitutional amendment protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. Fourth Amendment violations are the rule's most familiar basis in American criminal procedure.
Civil damages: Money awarded by a court to compensate for legally recognized harm. Damages can remedy unlawful searches without excluding probative evidence from a criminal trial.
Deterrence theory: The view that legal sanctions discourage future misconduct by increasing its expected costs. U.S. courts commonly justify exclusion by its capacity to deter unlawful police conduct.
Fruit of the poisonous tree: A doctrine that can exclude evidence derived from an unlawful search, seizure, or interrogation. It extends suppression beyond evidence directly obtained through the violation.
Mapp v. Ohio: A 1961 U.S. Supreme Court decision applying the exclusionary rule to state criminal proceedings. It made the rule binding on state courts through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Search and seizure: The legal regulation of government searches of people or property and the taking of evidence. The rule most often addresses evidence gathered during unlawful searches or seizures.
Qualified immunity: A U.S. legal doctrine limiting damages liability for government officials unless they violate clearly established law. It can restrict a separate remedy for misconduct even when evidence exclusion is disputed.
Fourth Amendment: A provision of the U.S. Bill of Rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. The rule gives this constitutional protection a potential remedy in criminal proceedings.

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