supreme court
... house. The U.S. heard that there as a big drug deal so they staked out the home of Leon. Then much later they applied for a warrant with a stale affidavit and the police surveillance alone wasn't enough for a warrant, they needed the affidavit. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the U.S. saying they acted in good faith and made an exception to the exclusionary rule. Another example of the weakening of our privacy rights is the case of United States v. Banks. In this case the police were executing a warrant. They knocked and waited fifteen seconds and then they knocked down the door and busted in. When banks heard the noise he came out of the shower and they attached him. The court said that fifteen seconds was a sufficient amount of time for the knock and announce rule. Lastly, in the case of Nix v. Williams in 1984 it was decided that illegally obtained evidence is admissible in court if it would've inevitable been found by legal means. This shows that the government has more power, who makes the decision of knows for certain if the police would've legally have the evidence. These three cases show how the government has gained power and the people have lost some when it comes to warrants and procedures. To continue, the people's rights to privacy in automobile searches have gone down as well. There are a few cases to demonstrate this as well. For instance, in New York v. Belton the decision was made that when the police lawfully search of the passenger compartments. The passengers may have done nothing wrong but would still be forced to get searched. Also in 1973 United States v. Robinson a man was arrested for driving with a revoked license and searched his person and found heroine. Just for being arrested he had to be searched and it was found and admissible in court. In addition, in the case of Whren et al. v. United States the police used a traffic violation as an excuse to pull over the car so they could get a better look at the car. The boys were stopped at the stop sign for an unusually long time and then sped off so the police pulled them over, and the court ruled that it was okay although the police's intention was just to get a better look at the car. These cases show how rules have become stricter on the people a...