Also known as: suppress · suppresses · suppressed · suppressing · motion to suppress
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A procedural mechanism by which a court excludes evidence obtained through a constitutional violation. The mechanism is invoked by pretrial motion and serves to deter unlawful police conduct while protecting the integrity of the judicial process.
A procedural mechanism by which a court excludes evidence obtained through a constitutional violation. The mechanism is invoked by pretrial motion and serves to deter unlawful police conduct while protecting the integrity of the judicial process.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Government action that prohibits or substantially burdens protected speech or religious exercise. Such action triggers strict scrutiny when it is not neutral or generally applicable and is directed at suppressing the protected conduct.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Government action that prohibits or substantially burdens protected speech or religious exercise. Such action triggers strict scrutiny when it is not neutral or generally applicable and is directed at suppressing the protected conduct.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Congress authorizes federal troops to assist a state governor facing an armed uprising by citizens refusing to pay a newly enacted excise tax. The troops restore order and arrest the leaders. The constitutional grant of authority permits the deployment without violating state sovereignty limits.
Police enter a home without a warrant after receiving an anonymous tip and seize an illegal submachine gun. The homeowner moves before trial to bar the gun from evidence. The court must decide whether the entry violated the Fourth Amendment and whether the evidence should be suppressed under the applicable criminal procedure rule.
Federal agents enter a residence without a warrant and seize narcotics. The resident moves before trial to bar the narcotics from evidence. The court must decide whether the entry violated the Fourth Amendment and whether the evidence should be suppressed under the applicable criminal procedure rule.
The prosecution withholds a witness statement that directly contradicts the trial testimony of its key eyewitness. The defense moves before trial to bar related testimony from evidence. The court must decide whether the nondisclosure requires exclusion under the applicable criminal procedure rule.
A defendant must raise a suppression claim before trial under the timing rules for pretrial motions. Failure to do so waives the claim unless the court grants relief for good cause.
Supporting sources
No. When officers reasonably rely on a warrant later found invalid, the evidence is not suppressed because exclusion would not deter misconduct.
Supporting sources
Evidence is material if there is a reasonable probability that its disclosure would have produced a different result. The standard applies to both exculpatory and impeachment evidence.
Supporting sources
A city enacts a ban on a particular method of animal slaughter used exclusively by members of a religious group. The group challenges the ordinance as singling out its practices. Because the law was enacted to suppress the religious conduct rather than to serve a neutral public-health goal, it fails strict scrutiny.
A state bar association prohibits all newspaper advertisements listing prices for routine services such as uncontested divorces. A law firm challenges the prohibition. The blanket ban on truthful commercial speech cannot be justified by paternalistic concerns about professionalism and is therefore unconstitutional.
A law triggers strict scrutiny when it is not neutral or generally applicable and was enacted to suppress a religious practice. The government must then show the law is narrowly tailored to a compelling interest.
Supporting sources
No. Blanket bans on truthful advertising of routine services violate the First Amendment. States may regulate only false or misleading ads.
Supporting sources
…Meeting. That report observed that the Committee had been appointed to investigate criminal abortion "with a view to its general suppression." It deplored abortion and its frequency and it listed three causes of "this general demoralization": "The first of these causes is a wide-spread popular ignorance of the true character…