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agents must obtain search warrants from judicial officers

before they invade the homes or businesses of citizens.

When executive agents bypass the warrant application proce-

dure or disregard the terms and conditions of search war-

rants, they are engaged in unlawful behavior.

The judiciary can respond to executive mischief by

barring the admission of illegally seized evidence in

criminal trials.  The purpose of the exclusionary rule is

to compel respect for the judiciary's warrant-issuing

prerogative.  By removing the incentive to disregard the

warrant clause and the judicial role in searches and

seizures, the rule seeks to restore the equilibrium that

the Fourth Amendment established.

In recent years, the legislative branch has weighed

into the longstanding power struggle between the executive

and judicial branches.  Congress has tried to transfer

power from the judicial branch to the executive branch by

abrogating the exclusionary rule.  Congress is essentially

trying to alter the constitutional equilibrium with mere

legislation.  Legislative proposals to abolish the exclu-

sionary rule represent a "back-door" assault on the judi-

cial branch.  The Supreme Court has a duty to defend the

judicial province, including the judiciary's warrant-issu-

ing prerogative, against encroachment.  Any legislative

rule that attempts to abrogate the exclusionary rule

should therefore be declared null and void.

Notes

1.  John Wesley Hall Jr., Search and Seizure (New York:

Clark, Boardman, Callaghan, 1991), vol. 1, p. ix.

2.  See "Dodge County Detective Can't Remember Fatal Shot;

Unarmed Man Killed in Drug Raid at His Home," Milwaukee

Journal Sentinel, April 29, 1995, p. A1.  See also "The

Week," National Review, June 12, 1995, p. 14.

3.  See Sara Rimer, "Raid on Wrong Boston Home Results in

Death of a Minister," New York Times, March 28, 1994,

p. A1.

4.  See Michael White, "A Second Death in Drug Raids Is

Raising Questions in California," Philadelphia Inquirer,

November 1, 1992, p. A8.  See also Office of the District

Attorney, County of Ventura, State of California, "Report

on the Death of Donald Scott," March 30, 1993.