The following excerpt is from U.S. v. V-1 Oil Co., 63 F.3d 909 (9th Cir. 1995):
Courts have been careful to preserve the Fourth Amendment on behalf of criminals and criminal enterprises by enforcing an extra-constitutional rule of suppressing evidence obtained in violation of its guarantee. Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 394, 34 S.Ct. 341, 345, 58 L.Ed. 652 (1914); Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961). The judgment has been made that the loss in efficiency of the criminal justice system is more than compensated by the efficacy given the Amendment. At least an equal zeal to uphold the constitutional command is appropriate when an administrative agency of government seeks randomly to rummage through the records of a lawful business. The consequences of unwarranted intrusion by the government are heavier for the criminal; the affront to privacy is equal, whether the government's purpose is criminal law enforcement or civil regulation. In either case "the people"--that is, all of us--
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I respectfully dissent.
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