Stefanelli v. Minard/Dissent Douglas

Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, dissenting.

Mr. Justice Murphy, Mr. Justice Rutledge, and I voted in Wolf v. People of State of Colorado, 338 U.S. 25, 69 S.Ct. 1359, 93 L.Ed. 1782, that evidence obtained as a result of an unreasonable search and seizure should be excluded from state as well as federal trials. In retrospect the views expressed by Mr. Justice Murphy and Mr. Justice Rutledge grow in power and persuasiveness. I adhere to them. I therefore think that any court may with propriety step in to prevent the use of this illegal evidence. To hold first that the evidence may be admitted and second that its use may not be enjoined is to make the Fourth Amendment an empty and hollow guarantee so far as state prosecutions are concerned.