Happy 50th Anniversary Mapp v. Ohio!

The landmark search-and seizure case Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), celebrated its 50th anniversary yesterday.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), on June 19, 1961 with a 6-3 vote.  Justice Tom C. Clark wrote the majority opinion for the Court. Mapp is significant because the Court applied the exclusionary rule under the Fourth Amendment to the states and held that illegally obtained evidence was inadmissible, overruling its prior decision in Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 (1949).  Prior to Mapp, state courts could admit or exclude illegally seized evidence.

The case is also of local interest because it began here in Cleveland, Ohio.  To learn more about the case, view pictures, and read newspaper articles, as well as original court documents check out the Mapp v. Ohio exhibit which is coming soon to The Cleveland Memory Project’s Legal Landmarks in Cleveland History collection.