Dissenting justices argued the good faith exception effectively swallowed the exclusionary rule.

Evidence

The dissenting justices in Heien charged that the exception had in effect swallowed up the rule. What is unclear is how frequently constitutional violations by the police result from good faith mistakes rather than intentional disregard of constitutional mandates. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1869

Categorization

• XREF: Rabbit-duck ambiguity: the same doctrine looks like a narrow exception or a wholesale repeal depending on the observer — directly parallels the Sorites/paradox material in previous chapters. — connects to: Supreme Court unanimity collapsed from near-total to under a quarter of decisions — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4134
• SEED: Possible paper angle: how exceptions quietly become the rule in Fourth Amendment doctrine, using Heien dissents and empirical data on police knowledge of constitutional standards.

Broader Connections

• Supreme Court unanimity collapsed from near-total to under a quarter of decisions #complicates (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4134