Wong Sun v. United States

Petitioners

Wong Sun, James Wah Toy

Respondent

United States

Petitioners' Claim

That use of evidence illegally obtained by police in criminal proceedings violates the petitioners' constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners

Edward Bennett Williams

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

J. William Doolittle

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr. (writing for the Court), William O. Douglas, Arthur Goldberg, Earl Warren

Justices Dissenting

Tom C. Clark, John Marshall Harlan II, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

14 January 1963

Decision

Upheld Wong Sun's claim and overturned two lower courts' decisions allowing use in criminal trials of evidence illegally obtained without warrants.

Related Cases

• Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914).
• Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10 (1948).
• Miranda v. Arizona, 387 U.S. 436 (1966).
• Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431 (1984).
• Unites States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984).
• Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533 (1988).

Further Readings

• American Civil Liberties Union. http://www.aclu.org
• Bodenhamer, David J., and James W. Ely, Jr., eds. The Bill of Rights in Modern America: After 200 Years. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1993.
• "Congress and the Exclusionary Rule: Would Killing the Exclusionary Rule Repeal the Fourth Amendment or Restore It?" National Review, May 15, 1995.