An Indiana appeals court has ruled that, when faced with an illegal arrest, citizens have no right to resist arrest in their homes by the police. The court over-ruled English-American common-law precedent dating back to 1215, the date of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was the first basis charter of human rights and civil liberties in English constitutional history. It formed the basis for the Bill of Rights of our U.S. Constitution, including the principle that police may not violate your rights and affect an Illegal Arrest if they do not have a Search Warrant or certainly narrow exceptions to the Warrant Requirement.
Under the Indiana decision issued earlier this week, the Indiana court said it is contrary to public policy to encourage citizens to fight with or resist the police, even if the citizen’s rights are being ignored or violated. The appellate court held that citizens have an adequate remedy for violations of Fourth Amendment Search and Seizure law even without fighting with police to resist an illegal entry into their homes. Instead, they could sue the police under federal civil rights law or get evidence thrown out under the Exclusionary Rule. The Exclusionary Rule states that courts must suppress or throughout any evidence that is gained illegally or by violating a citizen’s rights.
