MAPP V. OHIO (1961) DECISION
Justice Hugo Black concurred and in a concurring opinion wrote: “Reflection on the problem … in the light of cases coming before the Court since Wolf, has led me to conclude that when the Fourth Amendment’s ban against unreasonable searches and seizures is considered together with the Fifth Amendment’s ban against compelling self-incrimination, a constitutional basis emerges which not only justifies but actually requires the exclusionary rule.”
Justice William O. Douglas also concurred and in a concurring opinion wrote: “As stated in the Weeks case, if evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment can be used against an accused, ‘his right to be secure against such searches and seizures is of no value, and … might as well be stricken from the Constitution.’ ”
Justice John Marshall Harlan III dissented and in a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Felix Frankfurter and Charles Whittaker, 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.” In addition, Harlan asserted that the federal system permits the states to manage their problems of criminal law enforcement without the Supreme Court’s stamp of approval or disapproval: “Problems of criminal law enforcement vary widely from State to State. … For us the question remains, as it has always been, one of state power, not one of passing judgment on the wisdom of one state course or another. In my view, this Court should continue to forbear from fettering the States with an adamant rule which may embarrass them in coping with their own peculiar problems in criminal law enforcement.”