The Recorder has collaborated with students enrolled in Reimagining Criminal Justice, a seminar at Golden Gate University School of Law, to publish this series of student writings. This next generation of lawyers explore a broad range of topics touching on criminal and racial justice, and provide their perspectives and voices on myriad proposals for building a better, more just, system.

In 1949, Justice Frank Murphy dissented in the case of Wolf v. Colorado, passionately defending the exclusionary rule. He warned that “only by exclusion [of evidence] can we impress upon the zealous prosecutor that violation of the Constitution will do him no good. And only [then] can the prosecutor be expected to emphasize the importance of observing constitutional demands in his instructions to the police.” In the wake of Breonna Taylor’s death, his prophetic words resonate in the streets as the chanting of BLM protesters echo “No justice! No peace! Prosecute the police!”