Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States

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, delivered by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was that to permit derivatives would encourage police to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, so the illegal copied evidence was held tainted and inadmissible.[1] This precedent later became known as the "fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine,"[2] and is an extension of the exclusionary rule.

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) 40 S. Ct. 182; 64 L. Ed. 319; 1920 U.S. LEXIS 1685
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, joined by McKenna, Day, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Brandeis, Clark
Dissent	White
Dissent	Pitney

Chief Justice White and Associate Justice Pitney dissented without a written opinion.