sented with a new case. The defendant, Ms. Mapp and her daughter opposed the unlawful seizure of lewd books and pictures that were found by the police during an unwarranted search of her residence. During the initial encounter with police officers, who attempted to search her dwelling, Ms. Mapp requested to see the search warrant. After she was shown an obviously fake document she protested the illegal search and was handcuffed. Later, during the trial, the prosecution did not present a valid warrant and did not explain the absence of one. Ms. Mapp was convicted based on the tainted evidence (Nagel, 46). Nevertheless, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned her conviction by the precedent-setting ruling that the police officers were acting in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The majority of the court decided that from then onwards, the exclusionary rule shall apply to all states as prescribed by the Fourteenth Amendment.The court’s ruling of the Mapp case created unprecedented controversy in the legal community. Many experts voiced their opinions opposing the mandatory application of the exclusionary rule and the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree doctrine to the states. Several problems were identified and argued by the courts. Some professionals argued that the exclusionary rule created a safe route for criminals to go unpunished. They stated that, if the evidence is sufficient enough to convict a suspect, it should not matter if that evidence was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Another opinion stated that if the evidence is tainted, the law enforcement officer has to suffer penalties but the evidence should be admitted and the conviction upheld. Americans for Effective Law Enforcement and the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommended modifying the exclusionary rule so that it should only be applied in cases where “willful, flagrant and substantial violations of search and seizure procedures” are ...
