Journal article
The Start of a Revolution: Mapp v Ohio and The Warren Court’s Fourth Amendment Case that Almost Wasn’t
Stetson law review, Vol.49, p499
2020
Abstract
For those of us who teach constitutional criminal procedure, it is remarkable to think that almost three generations of lawyers have grown to maturity since Earl Warren received his commission as Chief Justice of the United States, and five decades have elapsed since he relinquished the duties of that office. Following his retirement, legal historians and Supreme Court scholars sought to define and evaluate the “Warren Court” and its legacy. These efforts have produced a wide range of conflicting views: some believe the Court did too much, others believe it fell short of doing enough. This divergence of opinion exists mainly because the Warren Court dealt with legal issues that were basic to American democracy, evoking controversy and passion whenever raised.
The many decisions of the Warren Court may be categorized as a jurisprudence of individual integrity within the increasing constrictions of a corporate society: the constitutional guarantees of equality of opportunity between races and voters, the expansion of rights of criminal defendants; and the fundamental right to privacy. In addressing itself to this theme, the Warren Court rounded out a cycle of constitutional change that has ranged over three decades and completed a revolution in national history, which began in the crises of the New Deal and moved forward logically and inexorably to the present.
As interesting as these interpretations are, in the realm of criminal law it was perhaps not until 1961 and the decision of Mapp v. Ohio that the majority of the bench began to consistently reflect the positions one would consider today as distinctive of his legacy. In Mapp, the Court overruled Wolf v. Colorado and held that state courts had to automatically exclude illegally seized evidence as a matter of federal constitutional law, bringing the Fourth Amendment in line with those at the state level. This ruling is generally regarded as having launched the “Warren Court Revolution” in constitutional criminal procedure.
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Details
- Title
- The Start of a Revolution: Mapp v Ohio and The Warren Court’s Fourth Amendment Case that Almost Wasn’t
- Creators
- Donald F Tibbs - Drexel University, Thomas R. Kline School of Law
- Publication Details
- Stetson law review, Vol.49, p499
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Thomas R. Kline School of Law
- Identifiers
- 991021902911804721