Illinois v. Gates

When Illinois v. Gates first appeared before the Supreme Court in October of 1982, the state of Illinois had requested that the High Court decide whether "probable cause" was present in the police affidavit that requested the warrant. The Illinois assistant attorney general later requested to enlarge the question to include whether or not such evidence was admissible in court, based on the "reasonable belief" that the search was valid under the Fourth Amendment--even though it was later found not to be. After a few weeks, the Supreme Court motioned to return Illinois v. Gates to the docket, and it was re-argued in March of 1983.

On June 8 of that year, the Court issued its decision, with apologies. The good-faith clause had not been present in petitions to the lower courts, and the Supreme Court's task was to review the cases as they existed. It did, however, reverse the Illinois Supreme Court ruling barring the evidence against the Gates from trial. Justice Rehnquist's majority decision rejected the Aguilar and Spinelli tests, and asserted that courts should abide by a "totality of circumstances" rule. This holds that a magistrate, presented with a police affidavit and request for warrant, should consider whether or not there is a "fair probability" that evidence of a crime will be found at a specific place, and found that the issuing judge and Bloomingdale police had acted within these precepts. Rehnquist also promised to look into modifying the exclusionary rule in three cases scheduled for the following term. Justices Brennan and Marshall dissented from the majority.