Letter from Elmer Grisley to Clerk of the Supreme Court
05/20/1914
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Fremont Weeks was arrested while on the job at Union Station in Kansas City. His attorney, Martin J. O'Donnell, filed a motion requesting that the police officers and the U.S. marshal had unlawfully, and without a search warrant, entered Week's home and seized property in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Weeks was found guilty and O'Donnell appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court decided to overturn Week's conviction by a unanimous vote, not because he was innocent of the charges but because the evidence that had been used to convict him had been obtained without a search warrant and was thus a violation of the Fourth Amendment protecting him against unreasonable searches and seizures. After the decision, attorneys from across the country wrote letters to the Clerk of the Supreme Court requesting copies of the decision. Prior to the decision, courts operated on the premise that the need for justice was of greater importance than the defendant's protection under the Fourth Amendment. But as a result of the Weeks decision, the exclusionary rule was created by the Court. It forbids the use of illegally obtained evidence in federal court.
Text adapted from “Request for a Copy of the Decision in Weeks v. The United States” in the March/April 2011 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
Text adapted from “Request for a Copy of the Decision in Weeks v. The United States” in the March/April 2011 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States.
National Archives Identifier: 5720444
Full Citation: Letter from Elmer Grisley to Clerk of the Supreme Court Regarding a Decision Wherein They Held That Evidence Taken from the Person Illegally Without a Search Warrant is Not Admissible; 05/20/1914; Case File for Weeks v. United States; Appellate Jurisdiction Case Files, 1792 - 2010; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States, Record Group 267; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-elmer-grisley-clerk-supreme-court, April 18, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.