Wolf v. Colorado/Dissent Murphy

by Frank Murphy

United States Supreme Court

338 U.S. 25

Wolf  v.  Colorado

 Argued: Oct. 19, 1948. --- Decided: June 27, 1949

Mr. Justice MURPHY, with whom Mr. Justice RUTLEDGE joins, dissenting.

It is disheartening to find so much that is right in an opinion which seems to me so fundamentally wrong. Of course I agree with the Court that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits activities which are proscribed by the search and seizure clause of the Fourth Amendment. See my dissenting views, and those of Mr. Justice Black, in Adamson v. California, 332 U.S. 46, 68, 123, 67 S.Ct. 1672, 1684, 1711, 91 L.Ed. 1903, 171 A.L.R. 1223. Quite apart from the blanket application of the Bill of Rights to the States, a devotee of democracy would ill suit his name were he to suggest that his home's protection against unlicensed governmental invasion was not 'of the very essence of a scheme of ordered liberty.' Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 325, 58 S.Ct. 149, 152, 82 L.Ed. 288. It is difficult for me to understand how the Court can go this far and yet be unwilling to make the step which can give some meaning to the pronouncements it utters.

Imagination and zeal may invent a dozen methods to give content to the commands of the Fourth Amendment. But this Court is limited to the remedies currently available. It cannot legislate the ideal system. If we would attempt the enforcement of the § arch and seizure clause in the ordinary case today, we are limited to three devices: judicial exclusion of the illegally obtained evidence; criminal prosecution of violators; and civil action against violators in the action of trespass.

Alternatives are deceptive. Their very statement conveys the impression that one possibility is as effective as the next. In this case their statement is blinding. For there is but one alternative to the rule of exclusion. That is no sanction at all.

This has been perfectly clear since 1914, when a unanimous Court decided Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 393, 34 S.Ct. 341, 344, 58 L.Ed. 652, L.R.A.1915B, 834, Ann.Cas. 1915C, 1177. 'If letters and private documents can thus be seized and held and used in evidence against a citizen accused of an offense,' we said, 'the protection of the 4th Amendment, declaring his right to be secure against such searches and seizures, is of no value, and, so far as those thus placed are concerned, might as well be stricken from the Constitution.' 'It would reduce the Fourth Amendment to a form of words.' Holmes, J., for the Court, in Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385, 392, 40 S.Ct. 182, 183, 64 L.Ed. 319, 24 A.L.R. 1426.

Today the Court wipes those statements from the books with tis bland citation of 'other remedies.' Little need be said concerning the possibilities of criminal prosecution. Self-scrutiny is a lofty ideal, but its exaltation reaches new heights if we expect a District Attorney to prosecute himself or his associates for well-meaning violations of the search and seizure clause during a raid the District Attorney or his associates have ordered. ^[1] But there is an appealing ring in another alternative. A trespass action for damages is a venerable means of securing reparation for unauthorized invasion of the home. Why not put the old writ to a new use? When the Court cites cases permitting the action, the remedy seems complete.

But what an illusory remedy this is, if by 'remedy' we mean a positive deterrent to police and prosecutors tempted to violate the Fourth Amendment. The appealing ring softens when we recall that in a trespass action the measure of damages is simply the extent of the injury to physical property. If the officer searches with care, he can avoid all but nominal damages-a penny, or a dollar. Are punitive damages possible? Perhaps. But a few states permit none, whatever the circumstances. ^[2] In those that do, the plaintiff must show the real ill will or malice of the defendant, ^[3] and surely it is not unreasonable to assume that one in honest pursuit of crime bears no malice toward the search victim. If that burden is carried, recovery may yet be defeated by the rule that there must be physical damages before punitive damages may be awarded. ^[4] In addition, some states limit punitive damages to the actual expenses of litigation. See 61 Harv.L.Rev. 113, 119-120. Others demand some arbitrary ratio between actual and punitive damages before a verdict may stand. See Morris, Punitive Damages in Tort Cases, 44 Harv.L.Rev. 1173, 1180-1181. Even assuming the ill will of the officer, his reasonable grounds for belief that the home he searched harbored evidence of crime is admissible in mitigation of punitive damages. Gamble v. Keyes, 35 S.D. 644, 153 N.W. 888; Simpson v. McCaffrey, 13 Ohio 508. The bad reputation of the plaintiff is likewise admissible. Banfill v. Byrd, 122 Miss. 288, 84 So. 227. If the evidence seized was actually used at a trial, that fact has been held a complete justification of the search, and a defense against the trespass action. Elias v. Pasmore (1934) 2 K.B. 164. And even if the plaintiff hurdles all these obstacles, and gains a substantial verdict, the individual officer's finances may well make the judgment useless-for the municipality, of course, is not liable without its consent. Is it surprising that there is so little in the books concerning trespass actions for violation of the search and seizure clause?

The conclusion is inescapable that but one remedy exists to deter violations of the search and seizure clause. That is the rule which excludes illegally obtained evidence. Only by exclusion can we impress upon the zealous prosecutor that violation of the Constitution will do him no good. And only when that point is driven home can the prosecutor be expected to emphasize the importance of observing constitutional demands in his instructions to the police.

If proof of the efficacy of the federal rule were needed, there is testimony in abundance in the recruit training programs and in-service courses provided the police in states which follow the federal rule. ^[5] St. Louis, for example, demands extensive training in the rules of search and seizure, with emphasis upon the ease with which a case may collapse if it depends upon evidence obtained unlawfully. Current court decisions are digested and read at roll calls. The same general pattern prevails in Washington, D.C. ^[6] In Dallas, officers are thoroughly briefed and instructed that 'the courts will follow the rules very closely and will detect any frauds.' ^[7] In Milwaukee, a stout volume on the law of arrest and search and seizure is made the basis of extended instruction. ^[8] Officer preparation in the applicable rules in Jackson, Mississippi, has included the lectures of an Associate Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. The instructions on evidence and search and seizure given to trainees in San Antonio carefully note the rule of exclusion in Texas, and close with this statement: 'Every police officer should know the laws and rules of evidence. Upon knowledge of these facts determines whether the * * * defendant will be convicted or acquitted. * * * When you investigate a case * * * remember throughout your investigation that only admissible evidence can be used.'

But in New York City, we are informed simply that 'copies of the State Penal Law and Code of Criminal Procedure' are given to officers, and that they are 'kept advised' that illegally obtained evidence may be admitted in New York courts. In Baltimore, a 'Digest of Laws' is distributed, and it is made clear that the statutory section excluding evidence 'is limited in its application to the trial of misdemeanors. * * * It would appear * * * that * * * evidence illegally obtained may still be admissible in the trial of felonies.' In Cleveland, recruits and other officers are told of the rules of search and seizure, but 'instructed that it is admissible in the courts of Ohio. The Ohio Supreme Court has indicated very definitely and clearly that Ohio belongs to the 'admissionist' group of states when evidence obtained by an illegal search is presented to the court.' A similar pattern emerges in Birmingham, Alabama.

The contrast between states with the federal rule and those without it is thus a positive demonstration of its efficacy. There are apparent exceptions to the contrast-Denver, for example, appears to provide as comprehensive a series of instructions as that in Chicago, although Colorado permits introduction of the evidence and Illinois does not. And, so far as we can determine from letters, a fairly uniform standard of officer instruction appears in other cities, irrespective of the local rule of evidence. But the examples cited above serve to grand an assumption that has motivated this Court since the Weeks case: that this is an area in which judicial action has positive effect upon the breach of law; and that without judicial action, there are simply no effective sanctions presently available.

I cannot believe that we should decide due process questions by simply taking a poll of the rules in various jurisdictions, even if we follow the Palko 'test.' Today's decision will do inestimable harm to the cause of fair police methods in our cities and states. Even more important, perhaps, it must have tragic effect upon public respect for our judiciary. For the Court now allows that is indeed shabby business: lawlessness by officers of the law.

Since the evidence admitted was secured in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the judgment should be reversed.

Notes

1. See Pound, Criminal Justice in America (New York, 1930): 'Under our legal system the way of the prosecutor is hard, and the need of 'getting results' puts pressure upon prosecutors to * * * indulge in that lawless enforcement of law which produces a vicious circle of disrespect for law.'
2. See McCormick, Damages, § 78. See Willis, Measure of Damages When Property is Wrongfully Taken by a Private Individual, 22 Harv.L.Rev. 419.
3. Id., § 79. See Fennemore v. Armstrong, 6 Boyce 35, 29 Del. 35, 96 A. 204.
4. 'It is a well settled and almost universally accepted rule in the law of damages that a finding of exemplary damages must be predicated upon a finding of actual damages.' 17 Iowa L.Rev. 413, 414. This appears to be an overstatement. See McCormick, supra, § 83; Restatement of Torts, § 908, comment c.
5. The material which follows is gleaned from letters and other material from Commissioners of Police and Chiefs of Police in twenty-six cities. Thirty-eight large cities in the United States were selected at random, and inquiries directed concerning the instruction provided police on the rules of search and seizure. Twenty-six replies have been received to date. Those of any significance are mentioned in the text of this opinion. The sample is believed to be representative, but it cannot, of course, substitute for a thoroughgoing comparison of present-day police procedures by a completely objective observer. A study of this kind would be of inestimable value.
6. E.g., Assistant Superintendent Truscott's letter to the Washington Police Force of January 3, 1949, concerning McDonald v. United States, 335 U.S. 451, 69 S.Ct. 191.
7. Recently lectures have included two pages of discussion of the opinions in Harris v. United States, 331 U.S. 145, 67 S.Ct. 1098, 91 L.Ed. 1399.
8. Chief of Police John W. Polcyn notes, in a Foreword to the book, that officers were often not properly informed with respect to searches and seizures before thoroughgoing instruction was undertaken. One of their fears was that of 'losing their cases in court, only because they neglected to do what they might have done with full legal sanction at the time of the arrets, or did what they had no legal right to do at such time.'