Mapp v. Ohio

Mapp v. Ohio

Year:Decided on June,19,1961

Results:6 votes Mapp, 3 votes against, in favor of Mapp

Constitutional Issue:The 4th amendment, protection from unreasonable search and seizure

Significance:The court stated that "all evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Constitution is, by the 4th amendment, inadmissible in a state court."It Basically said you can't us evidence obtained illegally in court, this help determine how to apply the Exclusionary rule

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Clark wrote the opinion, "Appellant stands convicted of knowingly having had in her possession and under her control certain lewd and lascivious books, pictures, and photographs in violation of § 2905.34 of Ohio's Revised Code. [n1] As officially stated in the syllabus to its opinion, the Supreme Court of Ohio found that her conviction was valid though "based primarily upon the introduction in evidence of lewd and lascivious books and pictures unlawfully seized during an unlawful search of defendant's home. . . ."

Dissent: Justice Harlan wrote "In overruling the Wolf case, the Court, in my opinion, has forgotten the sense of judicial restraint which, with due regard for stare decisis, is one element that should enter into deciding whether a past decision of this Court should be overruled. Apart from that, I also believe that the Wolf rule represents sounder Constitutional doctrine than the new rule which now replaces it."

6 Word Summary:Illegally obtained evidence can't be used