re: #491 CapeCoddah

Good Evening everyone…
Nikis, a great argument from the heart, But, It simply CANNOT and MUST not work that way. Chaos would descend upon us. Who will uphold the law if those charged with upholding it disregard their sworn duty? Evidence obtained in the fashion you suggest, is called “Fruit of the Poison Tree.” It is actually one of the reasons we fought the Revolution. In a perfect world, every criminal would pay. This is NOT a perfect world, and we can only do the best we can. Integrity is key.

Where is the line drawn? Is a rapist allowed to go free because there was no warrant when checking his house? A murderer?
I am sympathetic to arguements that we have to allow it because the perfect system is unenforceable, but this is an empirical claim. (Rather, I’m not saying we must try perfection, but when we were closer to what I suggest than now was it so terrible?)

Anyhow, I reject the accustation that I say the ends justify the means. I simply feel it is stupid to ignore known facts when trying cases for any serious crime.