Court History

Court History

Allen Bland

CJA 224

May 21, 2012

Dr. William Gallo

Court History

The legal system in America is ever changing, because the society that has created it is ever changing. This student will demonstrate the essential role of courts; and the differences between courts of antiquity and modern courts. Finally this student will demonstrate how the American court system is different than almost any other in the world.

When the bill of rights was added to the constitution certain unalienable rights were forged that last until this very day, however court proceedings look very different than they did. In early America very little of a case was regulated, there was no question of where evidence was obtained and no question of the legitimacy of the evidence at all. In that time, what today would be considered an unreasonable search and seizure could have in the eyes of the court been considered quite reasonable. Much of that started to change in the 20th century.

In the early 1900’s the first Supreme Court ruling to limit the power of police was established in the exclusionary rule. This rule stated that evidence collected illegally was not admissible in court and could not be used to try to convict the defendant. The exclusionary rule was a result of the Silverthorne case in which a man was accused of federal crimes involving his business. Upon his arrest the federal agents affected a search without a warrant. When he appealed to the Supreme Court his decision was reversed (Free Legal Dictionary, n.d.). Since then many precedents have been set in the way in which an investigation and prosecution must be conducted.

In modern times courts are the delegated diviners of truth and the assigned dispensers of justice. Contemporary society understands that there are laws for a reason and that people who break those laws must be punished for the crimes that they have committed. As such it is the courts duty as those elected and selected by the...