arkansasmimi
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B. The United States Supreme Court Wrongly Decided Patane.
The Founding Fathers created the Constitution with a number of protections from an
overreaching and oppressive government. Among them are well-known protections against
searches and seizures without warrants, the right to a speedy trial, and protections against selfincrimination.
Those protections were not adopted with an enforcement mechanism. Thus, the
judicial system adopted measures that would provide them with enforcement. For searches and
seizures the judicial system adopted the exclusionary rule for violations of the Fourth
Amendment to deter government abuses. Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S.
385 (1920); see also Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961). In Silverthorne, the Court held that if
it permitted the government to use evidence it obtained illegally it “reduce[d] the Fourth
Amendment to a form of words.” Id. To ensure there were no abuses of the right to speedy trial,
courts adopted a rule providing for an absolute bar to prosecution if not brought to trial within
twelve months. See Burmingham v. State, 346 Ark. 78, 57 S.W.3d 118 (2001). Most
importantly for this issue, the judicial system adopted a prophylactic measure to prevent abuses
of the right to counsel and self-incrimination most commonly referred to as Miranda. In a
plurality decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that it would not apply the “fruit of the
poisonous tree” doctrine found in Wong Sun to violations of the Fifth Amendment. United States
v. Patane, 542 U.S. 630 (2004). The decision was wrong and should not be extended to the
Arkansas Constitution.
This Court must answer this question, “May the police violate a person’s constitutional
rights, and then exploit that violation to obtain evidence that they otherwise would not have
secured?” This Court should answer no. The decision in Patane rested on flawed logic and it
would constitute a fallacy of the highest degree if this Court answers “yes” to the aforementioned
The Founding Fathers created the Constitution with a number of protections from an
overreaching and oppressive government. Among them are well-known protections against
searches and seizures without warrants, the right to a speedy trial, and protections against selfincrimination.
Those protections were not adopted with an enforcement mechanism. Thus, the
judicial system adopted measures that would provide them with enforcement. For searches and
seizures the judicial system adopted the exclusionary rule for violations of the Fourth
Amendment to deter government abuses. Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S.
385 (1920); see also Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961). In Silverthorne, the Court held that if
it permitted the government to use evidence it obtained illegally it “reduce[d] the Fourth
Amendment to a form of words.” Id. To ensure there were no abuses of the right to speedy trial,
courts adopted a rule providing for an absolute bar to prosecution if not brought to trial within
twelve months. See Burmingham v. State, 346 Ark. 78, 57 S.W.3d 118 (2001). Most
importantly for this issue, the judicial system adopted a prophylactic measure to prevent abuses
of the right to counsel and self-incrimination most commonly referred to as Miranda. In a
plurality decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that it would not apply the “fruit of the
poisonous tree” doctrine found in Wong Sun to violations of the Fifth Amendment. United States
v. Patane, 542 U.S. 630 (2004). The decision was wrong and should not be extended to the
Arkansas Constitution.
This Court must answer this question, “May the police violate a person’s constitutional
rights, and then exploit that violation to obtain evidence that they otherwise would not have
secured?” This Court should answer no. The decision in Patane rested on flawed logic and it
would constitute a fallacy of the highest degree if this Court answers “yes” to the aforementioned