Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States

Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 12, 1919 Decided January 26, 1920
Full case name	Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc., et al. v. United States
Citations	251 U.S. 385 (more)
Holding
To permit derivatives would encourage police to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, so the illegal copied evidence was held tainted and inadmissible.
Court membership
Chief Justice Edward D. White Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes, Jr. William R. Day · Willis Van Devanter Mahlon Pitney · James C. McReynolds Louis Brandeis · John H. Clarke
Case opinions
Majority	Holmes

Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920), was a U.S. Supreme Court Case in which Silverthorne attempted to evade paying taxes. Federal agents illegally seized tax books from Silverthorne and created copies of the records. The issue in this case is whether or not derivatives of illegal evidence are permissible in court. The ruling was that to permit derivatives would encourage police to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, so the illegal copied evidence was held tainted and inadmissible. This precedent is known as fruit of the poisonous tree and is an extension of the exclusionary rule.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 251
• Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963)

Further reading

• Killian, B. J. (1982). "United States v. Crews: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree—A New Wrinkle?". Idaho Law Review 18: 151. ISSN 00191205. 

External links

• Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920) (opinion full text).