Lead Opinion
OPINION
The question presented by this case is whether the good-faith, exception to the exclusionary rule articulated in Davis v. United States, — U.S. -,
On February 19,' 2011, officers responded to a single-vehicle accident on a rural road in Aitkin County. A witness told the officers that one of the passengers sustained a head injury and that the occupants of the vehicle had fled. One officer learned that the vehicle involved in the accident belonged to Lindquist and her husband. Two officers drove to the Lind-quist residence and entered the home to locate the injured passenger. They found the Lindquists hiding in a closet. Lind-quist’s husband, who initially claimed to be the driver, had facial bleeding but declined medical attention. The officers' later determined that Lindquist, not her husband, was the driver.
The officers observed that Lindquist had slurred speech, an unsteady gait, and red eyes. She also failed field sobriety tests. After declining, a preliminary breath test, Lindquist was placed under arrest and transported to a hospital for a blood draw. The officer who facilitated the blood draw did not read the Minnesota implied consent advisory, see Minn.Stat. § 169A.51, subd. 2(a)-(b) (2014), and sought neither consent nor a warrant for the blood draw. He testified that it was “procedure” at the time to “go straight to ithe blood” when responding to an accident involving injury. Lindquist’s alcohol concentration was measured at .23 approximately 2 hours after driving.
Respondent State of Minnesota charged Lindquist with two counts of criminal vehicular operation, Minn.Stat. § 609.21, subd. l(3)-(4), subd. la(d) (2012);
Nine days after the release of the court of appeals opinion, the Supreme Court decided McNeely. Lindquist petitioned for review to determine whether, in light of McNeely, her blood draw was an unconstitutional search. We stayed proceedings pending final disposition in State v. Brooks,
On remand, the court of appeals again affirmed. State v. Lindquist, No. A12-0599,
I.
First, we must determine whether Lindquist may properly assert a challenge based on Missouri v. McNeely, — U.S. -,
Although the State acknowledges that McNeely applies to this case because Lindquist’s direct appeal was pending when McNeely was decided, it argues that Lindquist forfeited her McNeely challenge by not raising it in a motion to suppress at the district court. “As a general rule, district court errors — even those affecting constitutional rights — can be forfeited for
We examined the effect of forfeiture on a new rule of constitutional criminal procedure in Osborne. After conviction of 28 drug-related offenses, Osborne was given an upward-durational sentencing departure. Id. at 439. Although Osborne argued against the upward departure, he did not argue that the imposed sentence was unconstitutional. See id. While Osborne’s case was on direct appeal, the Supreme Court decided Blakely v. Washington,
Like Blakely, McNeely is a new rule of constitutional criminal procedure that overruled our well-established precedent. As in Osborne, Lindquist’s case was on direct appeal when McNeely was announced, and the district court would have summarily rejected a suppression challenge to the warrantless blood draw under Netland and Shriner. Many — likely most and perhaps nearly all — defendants in Lindquist’s position will fail to bring a constitutional claim, either because similar claims have consistently been rejected in other cases, or because of the novelty of the new rule of law.
The State urges us to limit Osborne to Blakely-type challenges because a defendant must personally and affirmatively waive the right to a jury trial, see Osborne,
We hold that Lindquist did not forfeit her right to challenge her warrantless blood draw because the Supreme Court’s
II.
We next consider whether to adopt the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule articulated in Davis v. United, States, — U.S. -,
A.
The exclusionary rule to the Fourth Amendment “is a prudential doctrine ... created by [the Supreme] Court to compel respect for the constitutional guaranty.” Davis, — U.S. at -,
In particular, the Supreme Court has declined to apply the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule in circumstances in which doing so would not serve the central purpose of deterring police misconduct. See Elkins v. United States,
Over the past 3 decades, the Supreme Court has limited the applicability of the exclusionary rule to the Fourth Amendment through a series of good-faith exceptions. In United States v. Leon,
The most recent good-faith exception, and the one the State urges us to adopt, was articulated in Davis, — U.S. -,
The Court nevertheless held that “[e]vi-dence obtained during a search conducted in reasonáble rebanee on binding precedent is not subject to the exclusionary rule.” Id. at -,
We have not previously addressed whether to adopt any good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule for evidence obtained in violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.
In State v. Nolting,
may lie in the characterization of the exclusionary rule as being directed at police misconduct. Little more can be expected of a police officer who gathers evidence, presents it to a magistrate, and receives a warrant. If Fourth Amendment rights are violated by the resulting search, the fault lies in large part with the judiciary since refusal to issue the warrant presumably would compel the officer to gather more evidence before a search was conducted. In the present case such evidence was apparently available. Because judges may disagree about the existence of probable cause, it is difficult to fault an officer in close cases for not realizing that his investigation has not yet yielded probable cause.
Id. at 456 n. 7,
The following term, we applied a good-faith exception and refused to exclude evidence obtained during a search when the warrant authorizing the search violated a statute regarding nighttime searches. See State v. Lien,
Next, in State v. Wiberg,
Finally, in Johnson v. State, we rejected a defendant’s ineffective-assistance-of-eounsel claim that was based on his trial counsel’s failure to challenge DNA evidence that was obtained pursuant to an erroneous court order.
These cases inform our decision today. Like the Supreme Court, we have identified deterrence of police misconduct as the central purpose of the exclusionary rule. See, e.g., State v. Hardy,
We agree with the Supreme Court that applying the exclusionary rule to evidence obtained during a search conducted in reasonable reliance on binding appellate precedent would have no deterrent value on police misconduct. Davis, — U.S. at -,
III.
We next turn to the arguments Lind-quist makes for not adopting the Davis
A.
Lindquist first notes that this court has occasionally provided greater protection against unreasonable searches and seizures under Article I, Section 10, of the Minnesota Constitution than is provided by the Fourth Amendment. See, e.g., State v. Carter,
These cases, however, dealt with determining whether a constitutional violation occurred. The issue here, by contrast, is the appropriate remedy, which is a “separate, analytically distinct issue” from whether a constitutional violation occurred. See Davis, — U.S. at -,
Moreover, even if this jurisprudence were applicable, we have held that when a federal constitutional provision has the same or substantially similar language as a corresponding provision in the Minnesota Constitution and the United States Supreme Court has interpreted that language, we will not construe the Minnesota Constitution as granting greater protection for individual rights “unless there is a principled basis to do so.” Kahn v. Griffin,
B.
Relying largely on the Davis dissent, Lindquist next argues that the Davis good-faith exception is incompatible with the Supreme Court’s holding in Griffith v. Kentucky,
As the Supreme Court explained in Davis, however, this argument ignores the fact that the “[rjemedy” for a constitutional violation “is a separate, analytically distinct issue” from whether a constitutional right applies. Davis, — U.S. at -,
Our case law supports this proposition. We have stated that if a rule of constitutional criminal procedure “is considered ‘new,’ it must be applied to all cases pending on direct review.” State v. Houston,
Moreover, the Davis good-faith exception affects only a small subset of the cases reached by Griffith. The Davis exception applies only to new Fourth Amendment rules, leaving Griffith’s application to other constitutional rights unaffected.. Another limiting factor is that the exception applies only when a case overrules binding appellate precedent that previously worked in the State’s favor. See State v. Dearborn,
C.
Lindquist next argues that the exclusionary rule is a protected remedy under Article I, Section 8, of the Minnesota Constitution. . The Remedies Clause provides: “Every person is entitled to a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive to his person, property or character, and to obtain justice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay, conformable to the laws.” Minn. Const, art. I, § 8. The right to a remedy for wrongs is “[a] fundamental concept of our legal system and a right guaranteed by our state constitution.” Anderson v. Stream,
The Remedies Clause “relates primarily to the assertion of affirmative rights.” Peters v. City of Duluth,
The exclusionary rule has no basis in the U.S. and Minnesota Constitutions.
Although we have stated that “the Remedies Clause does not guarantee redress for every wrong,” Olson,
D.
In his dissent, Justice Lillehaug argues that Minn.Stat. § 626.21 (2014), which he asserts is Minnesota’s codification of the federal exclusionary rule, precludes this court from applying a good-faith exception. Section 626.21 provides:
A person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure may move the district court ... to suppress the use, as evidence, of anything so obtained on the ground that (1) the property was illegally seized, or (2) the property was illegally seized without warrant.... If the motion is granted the property ... shall not be admissible in evidence at any hearing or trial.
Applying the Davis good-faith exception does not violate this statutory provision.
First, the statute provides that illegally seized property is inadmissible as evidence “[i]f the motion [to suppress] is granted.” Id. (emphasis added). The statute, however, contains no substantive guidelines for ruling on the motion to suppress. See id. Thus, based on the plain language of the statute, even if the defendant claims the property was illegally seized, the statute does not prevent the district court from denying a motion to suppress because, for example, the officer relied in good faith on binding appellate precedent. See State v. Brooks,
Second, our case law does not support Justice Lillehaug’s view of section 626.21. We have noted that the exclusionary rule “need not be applied rigidly to every situation in which evidence is seized illegally.” Johnson v. State,
IV.
In summary, we hold that the exclusionary rule does not apply to violations of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or Article I, Section 10, of the Minnesota Constitution when law enforcement acts in objectively reasonable reliance on binding appellate precedent. We note the narrowness of our holding, however.' The Davis good-faith exception represents a small fragment of federal good-faith jurisprudence. The State has not asked us here to consider any other good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule, and nothing in our opinion should be construed as authorizing the application of exceptions we have not explicitly adopted. Further, the good-faith exception adopted here applies only when law enforcement officers act pursuant to binding appellate precedent, not persuasive precedent from other jurisdictions. In addition, the binding precedent must specifically authorize the behavior. Law enforcement cannot “extend the law” to areas in which no prece
In his dissent, Justice Page asserts that our decision “can only be read as opening the door to adoption of the whole panoply of [good-faith] exceptions.” We disagree. Justice Page correctly notes that “[t]he deterrence rationale underlies not only Davis, but the entire line of good-faith exception cases.” Today’s holding, however, merely reflects our opinion that the exclusionary rule does not deter police misconduct when applied to evidence obtained during a search conducted in reasonable reliance on binding precedent.
We do not decide here whether applying the exclusionary rule to evidence obtained in other ways, such as pursuant to a facially valid search warrant later held to be deficient, would provide an appreciable deterrent effect. See generally David Clark Esseks, Note, Errors in Good Faith: The Leon Exception Six Years Later, 89 Mich. L. Rev. 625, 633-51 (1990) (examining cases in which evidence was admitted pursuant to Leon even though the exclusionary rule may have deterred future police misconduct). Nor do we decide here whether the exclusionary rule should apply to evidence obtained due to police negligence. See Herring v. United States,
An officer who relies on binding appellate precedent has engaged in conduct that is decidedly nonculpable. See Davis, — U.S. at -,
V.
Finally, we turn to applying the Davis good-faith exception to the facts of this case. In State v. Shriner, we held that “[t]he rapid, natural dissipation of alcohol in the blood creates single-factor exigent circumstances that will justify the
Lindquist, nevertheless argues that the record is inadequate to determine whether the Davis good-faith exception applies here because the State did not argue for adoption of Davis until after Lindquist had been convicted; therefore, “facts which would be relevant to a determination of good faith were not developed” at trial. She states that the officer’s brief testimony that “it’s procedure to take a blood sample” of a person who causes a car accident involving injury is insufficient to demonstrate that he relied on binding appellate precedent.
This argument is premised on a misreading of Davis, which specifically states that the test for police reliance on appellate precedent is objective. — U.S. at -,
Here, the officer who facilitated Lind-quist’s blood draw acted in good-faith reliance on Shriner and Netland.
Affirmed.
Notes
. The offense of criminal vehicle operation causing bodily harm has been subsequently renumbered section 609.2113. Act of Apr. 30, 2014, ch. 180, § 9, 2014 Minn. Laws 281, 288 (codified at Minn.Stat. § 609.2113 (2014)).
. In his dissent, Justice Page suggests that we attempt to sidestep McNeely by adopting Davis. We simply note that both opinions were issued by the United States Supreme Court and neither has been overruled.
. The Supreme Court has held that exclusion is inappropriate in a variety of circumstances, notwithstanding a Fourth Amendment violation. See, e.g., Stone v. Powell,
. The State has urged us to adopt the Leon good-faith exception in search and seizure cases on several occasions, but we have declined to reach the issue. In several cases, we determined that no Fourth Amendment violation had occurred and therefore the exception was inapplicable. See State v. Wasson,
. In his dissent, Justice Page asserts that our single reference to Olson and Hickman "grossly overstates the[ir] impact.” These cases merely support our conclusion that the Remedies Clause is more limited than Justice Page contends. Indeed, Justice Page may "overstate[] the impact” of Davis v. Pierse,
Justice Page also notes that neither Olson nor Hickman "addressed the Section 10 right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures of person or property.” We simply respond that the same can be said of Davis, Agin, and every other case interpreting the Remedies Clause upon which Justice Page relies.
. Elevating the exclusionary rule to a constitutional right, as appellant would have us do here, has its own consequences. It may, for example, impede the development of better and more effective remedies for police misconduct than the exclusionary rule. See generally Alicia M. Hilton, Alternatives to the Exclusionary Rule After Hudson v. Michigan: Preventing and Remedying Police Misconduct, 53 Vill. L. Rev. 47 (2008) (proposing alternatives to the exclusionary rule for remedying violations of the knock-and-announce rule); Tonja Jacobi, The Law and Economics of the Exclusionary Rule, 87 Notre Dame L. Rev. 585 (2011) (reassessing the costs and benefits of the exclusionary rule).
. Justice Page argues that Hesse, Rogne, and Hoyle are unpersuasive because the Remedies Clause was not specifically raised by the parties. Regardless of the specific arguments advanced, these cases highlight the novelty of Justice Page’s position — that the Remedies Clause guarantees exclusion of illegally seized evidence — when we have not recognized such a right in over 150 years of interpreting the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 10, of the Minnesota Constitution.
Similarly, we rely on the harmless-error cases to demonstrate that not every constitutional violation requires a remedy. Justice Page suggests that these cases are inapposite because correction of the constitutional error would not make a difference to the outcome of the case. But this reasoning misidentifies the remedy, as we have consistently stated that the proper remedy is not simply correction of the error, but rather reversal of the conviction and a new trial. See, e.g., Shoen,
. Contrary to Justice Lillehaug’s dissent, we do not assume that the reach of Minn.Stat. § 626.21 is coextensive with that of the
. In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly amended N.C. Gen.Stat. § 15A-974 to include a general good-faith exception and "request[ed] that the North Carolina Supreme Court reconsider, and overrule, its holding in State v. Carter.” Act of Mar. 18, 2011, ch. 6, §§ 1-2, 2011 N.C. Sess. Laws 10, 11.
. Indeed, neither the parties nor the dissents argue that applying the exclusionary rule here would result in appreciable deterrence of police misconduct, and Justice Breyer's dissent in Davis also fails to make this point. See Davis, — U.S. at -,
. To the extent that Davis relies on the "culpability” analysis espoused in Herring, we endorse Justice Page’s assertion that we need not rely on reasoning that is "broader than necessary to render our decision."
. The parties dispute whether, based on the totality of the circumstances, exigent circumstances were present such that Lindquist’s warrantless blood draw did not violate Missouri v. McNeely, — U.S. -,
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. It is apparent that the court is willing to go to any length — including ignoring Minn. Const, art. I, § 8,
I.
The court asserts that its decision to adopt the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule articulated in Davis v. United States, — U.S. -,
As an initial matter, the court incorrectly frames the question of whether adopting the Davis good-faith exception violates Minn. Const, ait I, § 8. The question is not whether the exclusionary rule is itself a constitutional right, but whether the right underlying the exclusionary rule — the prohibition in Minn. Const, art. I, § 10, against unreasonable searches and sei
Article I, Section 1, of the Minnesota Constitution states that “[g]overnment is instituted for the security, benefit and protection of the people.” Contained within this concept is the notion that the State must uphold and protect certain rights recognized in our state constitution as fundamental, including the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Minn. Const, art. I, § 10. Just as fundamental as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, expressed in Section 10, is Section 8’s guarantee of the right to a remedy in the laws “for all injuries or wrongs” to one’s “person, property or character.” See Davis v. Pierse,
The guarantee in Article I, Section 8, of a remedy is not only “carefully guarded by the constitution,” Davis, 7 Minn, at 18 (
In Baker v. Kelley, we relied upon Article I, Sections 7
The statute would deprive a person of his property if he fails to do an act which may be done or omitted without any violation of law, and which neither his duty or interest requires him to do, and makes the performance of such act a condition to his right to sue for or defend his property in the courts; whereas the constitution declares that he shall not be deprived of his property by any mere legislative act, and that he shall be entitled to “justice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay, conformably to the laws.” ... We do not mean to question the power of the Legislature to require a party to pay the necessary costs of litigation, or to prescribe rules for the guidance of courts and litigants, but it seems very clear that beyond this they cannot attach any conditions or limits to the rights that are guaranteed absolutely, unconditionally, freely and certainly, by the constitution. In attempting to do this, the law of 1862 is in conflict with [Minn. Const, art. I, §§ 7, 8], and it cannot therefore be sustained.
Id. at 489-99 (
More broadly, our early Article I, Section 8, decisions indicate that, at the time Section 8 was adopted, entitlement to a remedy was understood to flow from the existence of legal rights. In Agin v. Heyward, we addressed whether a district court’s jurisdiction encompassed the enforcement of a mechanic’s lien for less than $100, despite the fact that the state constitution specifically granted original jurisdiction to the district courts only in cases in which the amount in controversy exceeded $100.
The court asserts that, “[although some of our early cases suggest an expansive reading of the Remedies Clause, ... we have subsequently held that the Remedies Clause ‘does not guarantee redress for every wrong, but instead enjoins the [government] from eliminating those remedies that have vested at common law.’ ” (Citing Olson,
We would never for one moment suppose that the legislature has the power, under the constitution, to deprive a person, or class of persons, of the right of trial by jury, or to subject them to imprisonment for debt, or their persons, houses, papers and effects, to unreasonable searches; or their property to be taken for public use without just compensation; and yet neither of these is more sacred to the citizen, or more carefully guarded by the constitution, than the right to have a certain and prompt remedy in the laws for all injuries or*885 ivrongs to person, property, or character.
Davis, 7 Minn, at 18 (
Further, we held in early cases like Davis and Baker v. Kelley that the Legislature violated Article I, Section 8, when it enacted laws that denied or effectively denied the ability of persons to vindicate constitutionally guarded rights. As noted above, the tax law challenged in Baker was deemed to violate Section 8 because it placed impermissible conditions on the ability of persons to enforce or defend their constitutionally guarded property rights. 11 Minn, at 498-90 (
The court not only minimizes the import of our early Remedies Clause cases, but also grossly overstates the impact of our more recent Remedies Clause eases, Hickman and Olson.
The court’s reliance on Olson also is misplaced because, under our reasoning in Olson, it is not entirely clear that the exclusionary rule did not “vest” at common law. In Olson, we indicated that “vested at common law” simply means that the remedy must be older than the statute or rule allegedly eliminating or impairing it. See
I would also note that this court’s decisions in cases like Hickman and Olson more broadly reflect separation of powers concerns and “the court’s reluctance to interfere with legislative schemes regulating complex social or political problems.” See Ruth Mickelsen, The Use and Interpretation of Article I, Section Eight of the Minnesota Constitution 1861-1984, 10 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 667, 684 (1984); see also Schermer v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.,
II.
The next question that must be addressed is whether the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule leaves defendants without a “certain remedy in the laws,” in violation of Minn. Const, art. I, § 8. Generally, we have only found violations to our constitution’s Remedies Clause when a remedy for a wrong is completely lacking. See, e.g., Carlson v. Smogard,
The practical effect of the good-faith exception is to deny any meaningful remedy to persons deprived of their constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures of person and property, which includes searches and seizures of blood or breath.
The State claims that citizens are provided adequate remedies because federal law permits a person aggrieved by an unconstitutional search to file a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2012) (establishing a civil cause of action for persons whose federal constitutional or statutory rights were violated by a person acting under color of state law). A section 1983 action can hardly be classified as an “adequate remedy” because section 1983 does not provide a remedy for searches and seizures that violate Article I, Section 10, of the Minnesota Constitution. See West v. Atkins,
Finally, the court’s reliance on the characterization of the exclusionary rule as an institutional deterrent does not alter the applicability of Article I, Section 8. In Agin v. Heyward, we broadly characterized Section 8’s guarantee of a remedy as including “the enforcement of rights as well as the redress of wrongs.”
Given the practical impact of the good-faith exception and the broad understanding of Article I, Section 8, we expressed in Agin and other cases, the court’s adoption of the good-faith exception in this case, as in Carter, mocks Section 8’s constitutionally mandated guarantee of a “certain remedy in the laws” and leaves those whose rights have been violated under Article I, Section 10, without a remedy. In the process, the court also mocks the legislatively created remedy for violations of Article I, Section 10, in Minn.Stat. § 626.21 (2014), discussed in detail in Justice Lillehaug’s dissent, which I join.
III.
The court’s decision in this case is not only inconsistent with Minn. Const, art. I, § 8, but is also inconsistent with the rea
After today, the exception will swallow the rule. While the court emphasizes the “narrowness” of its holding, stating that “[t]he Davis good-faith exception represents a small fragment of federal good-faith jurisprudence” and that “nothing in our opinion should be construed as authorizing the application of exceptions we have not explicitly adopted,” the opinion can only be read as opening the door to adoption of the whole panoply of exceptions. The court’s suggestion that it can pick and choose “fragments” of federal good-faith jurisprudence is nonsense given its rebanee on the rationale that deterrence of police misconduct is the “touchstone” of the exclusionary rule.
The deterrence rationale underlies not only Davis, but the entire line of good-faith exception cases, extending back to United States v. Leon,
The basic insight of the Leon line of cases is that the deterrence benefits of exclusion vary with the culpability of the law enforcement conduct at issue. When the police exhibit deliberate, reckless, or grossly negligent disregard for Fourth Amendment rights, the deterrent value of exclusion is strong and tends to outweigh the resulting costs. But when the police act with an objectively reasonable good-faith belief that their conduct is lawful ... the deterrence rationale loses much of its force, and exclusion cannot pay its way.
— U.S. at —,
In other words, the Davis good-faith exception is premised on, and inseparable from, Leon and its progeny. Therefore, it is difficult to understand how the court can suggest that its decision in this case has no implication beyond adoption of the specific good-faith exception created in Davis when the court says nothing that meaningfully distinguishes its reasoning from that of the Supreme Court in Leon and its progeny.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
. Article I, Section 10, of the Minnesota Constitution provides:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized.
(Emphasis added.)
. Article I, Section 8, of the Minnesota Constitution provides:
Every person is entitled to a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries or wrongs which*880 he may receive to his person, property or character, and to obtain justice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay, conformable to the laws.
(Emphasis added.)
. At the convention, Republican and Democratic delegates caucused separately, drafting two state constitutions. The Democratic draft did not contain a remedies provision, nor was a remedies provision proposed or debated by the Democratic delegates. William Anderson & Albert J. Lobb, A History of the Constitution of Minnesota 118 (1921); Ruth Mickelsen, The Use and Interpretation of Article I, Section Eight of the Minnesota Constitution 1861-1984, 10 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 667, 674 (1984); see generally Debates and Proceedings of the Minnesota Constitutional Convention (1857) (Earle S. Goodrich, printer, 1857) (containing debates of the Democratic convention). The provision instead originates in the Republican draft.
One Republican representative questioned the necessity of Article I, Section 8’s, provisions because the guarantee of a remedy was implied by the existence of inherent rights and the understanding that the object of government is to secure such rights:
It seems to me that the whole section is unnecessary. We have already declared that men have certain inherent rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and to secure those rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. If these are inherent rights and governments are instituted to secure them, does it not follow as a natural presumption that persons are entitled to a remedy if deprived of those rights?
Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention for the Territory of Minnesota 105 (George W. Moore, printer, 1858) (emphasis added). • Obviously, the representative's comment was rejected. The Remedies Clause was adopted by the Republican Convention and ultimately included as part of Minnesota’s
. Article I, Section 7, of the Minnesota Constitution states, in relevant part, that "[n]o person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law”.
. The court cites a number of cases to support its assertion that not every constitutional violation requires a remedy — particularly in the criminal context. First, the court notes that, before the United States Supreme Court applied the exclusionary rule to the states in Mapp v. Ohio,
Second, the court notes that "we regularly decline to remedy a constitutional error that is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt,” pointing to cases in which we declined to reverse the defendant’s conviction and grant a new trial based on a constitutional violation. E.g., State v. Shoen,
. The court attempts to minimize its reliance on Olson and Hickman, asserting that the "single reference” to Olson and Hickman "merely support[s] [the court’s] conclusion that the Remedies Clause is more limited than Justice Page contends.” I would point out that Olson and Hickman constitute the only legal authority cited by the court in support of its contention that the Remedies Clause has been limited in scope to remedies that have vested at common law.
. The court responds that, while neither Olson nor Hickman addressed the right under Minn. Const, art. I, § 10, to be free from unreasonable searches 'and seizures of person or property, "the same can be said of Davis v. Pierse, Agin, and every other case interpreting the Remedies Clause upon which Justice Page relies.” The court also asserts that I overstate the impact of Davis, Agin, and similar cases “by suggesting that those cases mandate application of the exclusionary rule, which did not exist until 52 years after Davis and Agin were decided.” There are multiple problems with these assertions. First, my position is that Article I, Section 8, guarantees a remedy for rights "guarded by the constitution,” Davis, 7 Minn, at 18 (Gil. at 6) — including the rights found in Article I, Section 10. As discussed above, Baker and Davis deemed laws to be in violation of Article I, Section 8, when they precluded persons from vindicating or exercising constitutionally guarded rights. See Baker, 11 Minn, at 498-99 (
. The court asserts that rejecting the Davis good-faith exception on the basis of the Remedies Clause would "elevat[e] the exclusionary rule to a constitutional right,” which would have the effect of "imped[ing] the development of better and more effective remedies for police misconduct than the exclusionary rule." The court mischaracterizes my position. I do not contend that the exclusionary rule is a constitutional right; I contend only that Minn. Const, art. I, § 8, requires a remedy for a violation of Minn. Const, art. I, § 10. If the exclusionary rule were replaced with a remedy that was in fact "better and more effective,” there would be no violation of Article I, Section 8. See Schermer v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.,
The Legislature not only may constitutionally create a “reasonable substitute” remedy, but, as Justice Lillehaug discusses in his dissent, has in fact created a remedy for unconstitutional searches and seizures. See Minn. Stat. § 626.21 (2014) ("A person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure may move the district court ... for the return of the property and to suppress the use, as evidence, of anything so obtained....”). Although this court has "primary responsibility under the separation of powers doctrine for the regulation of evidentiary matters,” State v. Olson,
. Article I, section 18, of the North Carolina Constitution provides:
All courts shall be open; every person for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation shall have remedy by due course of law; and right and justice shall be administered without favor, denial, or delay.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
Although I cannot share his sentiments regarding State v. Bernard,
Article I, Section 10 of the Minnesota Constitution protects “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.” But Section 10 does not contain a remedy for its violation. Article I, Section 8, however, guarantees “a certain remedy in the laws” for injuries or wrongs.
To respond to violations of Section 10, and to implement the promise of Section 8, the Legislature has provided a statutory remedy for an unlawful search and seizure. Enacted more than 50 years ago and never substantively amended, Minn.Stat. § 626.21 provides: “A person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure may move the district court ... to suppress the use, as evidence, of anything so obtained....” The statute further commands the remedy: “If the motion is granted the property shall be restored ... and it shall not be admissible in evidence at any hearing or trial.” Id.
In this case, the majority tacitly concedes that the search and seizure of blood without consent or a warrant was unlawful. See Missouri v. McNeely, — U.S. -,
If there were any ambiguity in section 626.21, which there is not, we would look to, among other things, the occasion and necessity for the law, the circumstances under which it was enacted, the mischief to be remedied, the object to be obtained, and the contemporaneous legislative history. See Minn.Stat. § 645.16(1^4), (7). While I have been unable to locate any legislative hearings or reports on the 1963 passage of section 626.21, the reason for, and context of, its enactment are not difficult to discern. In Mapp v. Ohio,
Three years after Minnesota enacted section 626.21, Georgia passed a strikingly similar law, Ga.Code Ann. § 17-5-30 (West 1966).
[Section] 17-5-30 is the legislature’s unequivocal expression of its desire that evidence seized by means of a warrant that is not supported by probable cause be suppressed. The legislature enacted this statute to protect against governmental disregard for constitutionally-protected rights.... In light of the unequivocal language of [the statute], infu*892 sion of the Leon good-faith exception into the statute Would be tantamount to judicial legislation. We decline to enter the realm of the legislature....
Id. at 428-29 (emphasis added) (footnote omitted). Minnesota has the same “unequivocal” language in section 626.21.
The North Carolina Supreme Court, too, rejected the judicially created good-faith exception on the ground that nó such exception was found in the 1973 statutory codification of its longstanding exclusionary rule. See State v. Carter,
It must be remembered that it is not only the rights of this criminal defendant that are at issue, but the rights of all persons under our state constitution. ... If a good faith exception is to be applied to this public policy, let it be done by the legislature, the body politic responsible for the formation and expression of matters of public policy.
Id.
The majority’s effort to read section 626.21 as purely procedural is unavailing. Of course, section 626.21 uses the phrase “[i]f the motion is granted.” Obviously, a motion to suppress evidence will be granted only “if’ the person aggrieved demonstrates what the statute.requires: “an unlawful search and seizure.” Minn.Stat. § 626.21. In this case, the movant met that burden, showing that the warrantless seizure of her blood was unconstitutional. This triggered the statute’s remedy: suppression. Compare State v. Smith,
Similarly unavailing is the majority’s effort to limit the suppression remedy to only the blood that was unconstitutionally seized, but not to the tests on that very blood. This effort is anticipated by section 626.21, which requires the suppression and return of not just the unlawfully seized property, but also prevents the “use, as evidence, of anything so obtained.” A blood test is obtained from, and is the use of, the unlawfully seized blood. The majority’s hair-splitting conflicts with longstanding black-letter constitutional law. When an unlawful search and seizure violates Article I, Section 10 of the Minnesota Constitution, both the property and the fruits of the search must be suppressed. See In re Welfare of B.R.K.,
By regulating law enforcement and granting the victim of an unlawful search and seizure a timely and practical remedy, section 626.21 makes concrete the guarantees of the Minnesota Constitution in Article I, Sections 8 and 10. If section 626.21
The unlawfully seized evidence must be suppressed. With these observations, I respectfully dissent and join the dissent of Justice Page.
.Section 626.21 is similar to the then-Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(e). In a decision the year before Mapp, the U.S. Supreme Court explained the purpose of Rule 41(e): "The restrictions upon searches and seizures were obviously designed for protection against official invasion of privacy and the security of property.... The exclusion in federal trials of evidence otherwise competent but gathered by federal officials in violation of the Fourth Amendment is a means for making effective the protection of privacy.” Jones v. United States,
. Rule 41(e)'s language regarding the exclusionary rule was deleted in 1989, in response to the Court’s adoption of the good-faith exception in United States v. Leon,
. Like the Minnesota statute, the Georgia statute was passed in the aftermath of Mapp and tracks the language of the then-Fed. R.Crim. P. 41(e).
. Thus, the text of section 626.21 easily defeats the majority's criticism that it does not contain a "substantive guideline.” It contains a substantive command that if the search and seizure was unlawful but not a mere "technical violation which did not subvert the basic purpose of the statute,” Smith,
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. Although the good-faith exception articulated in Davis v. United States, — U.S. -,
. The State does not argue that Minn.Stat. § 626.21 violates separation of powers and so we have no occasion to address that question here.
. The State argues that the exclusionary rule does not violate the remedies clause because citizens are able to file a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2012). Because I conclude that the good-faith exception does not apply under Minnesota law, I need not decide whether a civil suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, is sufficient to satisfy Minn. Const, art. I, § 8. The State also argues that the search was constitutional under the exigency exception. I would not reach that issue because it was not presented to the district court. See State v. Sorenson,
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting).
I join in the dissent of Justice Lillehaug.
