There Is No Such Thing as a Technicality

Technicality or Design?

Our Constitution has safeguards built in for a reason. When an officer stops someone and lacks probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, and then unlawfully searches that person's car and finds drugs or other contraband, it is not a "technicality" that the person is set free and not convicted of a crime. It is exactly how our Constitution is supposed to work. When a case is pled down to a lesser offense because the state lacks the evidence to convict of the offense charged, that is not a "technicality," it is justice. When a minor is interrogated outside the presence of their parents or attorneys, or when a person is interrogated without being apprised of their rights, or when a vehicle or home is searched with neither a proper warrant nor a valid exception to a warrant, it is not a "technicality" to refuse to convict the accused, even if those things result in a confession, or evidence of a crime. 

The police are not allowed to violate the Constitution. Most of the time they are well trained and know that. Some officers reason that if they can get by with skirting those lines, a "guilty" person will be "taken off the streets." And too often people cheer this mentality rather than rightly being skeptical of it. Fewer officers outright lie, or flagrantly break the rules in order to secure a conviction, but that happens as well. When Thomas Jefferson famously said "it is better for ten guilty men to go free than for one innocent man to be imprisoned," this is what he was talking about. It is not just to allow rules to be broken to "get the bad guy." It is certainly not a "technicality." It is an abuse of the justice system and an affront to our entire way of life. 

What we casually refer to as "technicalities" are actually safeguards, put in place by the Founders, the courts, Congress and state lawmakers in order to ensure fair play. When you are charged with a crime, the government has the burden of proving your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. When the government violates your rights in the process of gathering evidence, by requiring you to incriminate yourself, or searching your home or property without justification, the law punishes them and refuses to allow a conviction, even if the misconduct uncovered evidence of guilt. So I suppose "technicality" is right, in that "technically" the government cheated the system.