what is the exclusionary rule

The exclusionary rule is a legal principle in the United States that prevents evidence collected or analyzed in violation of a defendants constitutional rights from being used in a court of law. It is grounded in the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is intended to protect citizens from illegal searches and seizures. The rule applies to evidence gained from an unreasonable search or seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment, improperly elicited self-incriminatory statements gathered in violation of the Fifth Amendment, and evidence gained in situations where the government violated the defendants Sixth Amendment right to counsel. However, it does not apply in civil cases or grand jury proceedings. The exclusionary rule is a court-created remedy and deterrent, not an independent constitutional right, and its purpose is to deter law enforcement officers from conducting searches or seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment and to provide remedies to defendants whose rights have been infringed. Courts have carved out several exceptions to the exclusionary rule where the costs of exclusion outweigh its deterrent or remedial benefits, such as the good-faith exception. The exclusionary rule was adopted by the courts as a rule of evidence to deal with the failure of the warrant system to address after-the-fact Fourth Amendment violations.