James v. Illinois

Petitioners

Darryl James, et al.

Respondents

State of Illiniois, et al.

Petitioners' Claim

That the state should be allowed to use illegally obtained evidence to impeach the credibility of defense witnesses.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners

Martin S. Carlson

Chief Lawyer for Respondents

Terence M. Madsen

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., (writing for the Court), Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Anthony M. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

10 January 1990

Decision

Upheld the inadmissibility of illegally obtained evidence.

Related Cases

• Walder v. United States, 347 U.S. 62 (1954).
• Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961).
• Harris v. New York, 401 U.S. 222 (1971).
• Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321 (1987).

Further Readings

• Forde, Michael K. "The Exclusionary Rule at Sentencing." American Criminal Law Review, winter 1996, p. 379.
• Schwartz, Bernard. A History of the Supreme Court. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Steiker, Carol S. "Counter-Revolution in Constitutional Criminal Procedure? Two Audiences, Two Answers." Michigan Law Review, August 1996, p. 2466.