Aftermath

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The Aftermath
The Warren Court wasn’t the only court that made some important decisions to help shape our essential rights as Americans. The Burger and Rehnquist Courts that followed the Warren Courts had a few landmark cases of their own to assist in forming the democracy of our constitutional rights. From the due process revolution the Warren Court left us all the way to the left of the continuum in a liberal state, focused primarily on individual rights and justice with order. As the Burger and Rehnquist Courts starts to come into the picture there is a gradual shift to a more conservative approach. The Burger court falls right in the center of the continuum with a Moderate position. The Rehnquist Court establishes more conservative methods, focusing on such ideas as criminal justice as a system and more crime control.
With the establishment of the Burger Court in 1965 change was imminent. It had a landmark case in 1984 with U.S. v. Leon which dealt with the 4th Amendment, right to privacy. In this case police officers used information that was old and unreliable in order to get a search warrant to look for drugs. With this tainted warrant, police found illegal drugs. Under the ruling of Mapp v. Ohio and the exclusionary rule, the evidence should have been considered non admissible due to the fact that it was not a ‘legal’ warrant. However, because the police officer was “acting in good faith” and it was really the fault of the judge who issued the warrant, the evidence could therefore be used against the defendant. This ruling was the start of giving police a more flexible approach at solving crimes.
The Rehnquist Court came into existence in 1986 and still lasts to this very day. This court dealt with the 5th and 6th amendments, which are self incrimination and right to council. Under the Rehnquist Court, the concept the fifth and sixth amendments were stretched, relying less on the exclusionary rule. T...