JUDICIAL REFORM OF THE CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM THROUGH THE EXCLUSIONARY RULE

The present study investigates the effect of the exclusionary rule on the California criminal justice system in the areas of arrest, search and seizure. By providing research on the "educative effect" of the rule, the study fills in the empirical void resulting from existing studies' almost exclusive focus on the deterrent impact of the rule. In this regard, the study traces the legal, political, and organizational changes brought about in the California criminal justice system by the introduction of the exclusionary rule in People v. Cahan in 1955.;Finally, the study provides tentative suggestions concerning the future status of the rule based on insights derived from the present study.;At a more abstract level, the study proposes a model for research that leads to a more adequate measure of judicial performance. Previous studies on the impact of the rule have focused primarily on its impact on police behavior, taking organizational structures and operations as given entities rather than objects of change. The present study focuses on institutional change as well as indirect behavioral change resulting from the application of the rule. As a result, evidence of successful judicial performance was found because the underlying assessment strategy was based on a more realistic conception of the appropriate policy role of the rule in the context of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.