Instrumentalizing Jurors: An Argument Against the Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule

Todd E. Pettys, University of Iowa College of Law

Abstract

In this symposium contribution, I argue that (1) courts infringe on jurors' deliberative autonomy in a morally problematic way whenever they refuse to admit evidence that is both relevant and reasonably available; (2) this infringement is especially problematic in the Fourth Amendment setting; and (3) although there are several ways in which these moral problems could be at least partially mitigated, the best approach might be to abandon the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule entirely.