Cite as: 524 U. S. 357 (1998)
Souter, J., dissenting
Just as the Court has underestimated the competitive influences tending to induce police and parole officers to stint on Fourth Amendment obligations, so I think it has misunderstood the significance of admitting illegally seized evidence at the revocation hearing. On the one hand, the majority magnifies the cost of an exclusionary rule for parole cases by overemphasizing the differences between a revocation hearing and a trial, and on the other hand it has minimized the benefits by failing to recognize the significant likelihood that the revocation hearing will be the principal, not the secondary, forum, in which evidence of a parolee's criminal conduct will be offered.
The Court is, of course, correct that the revocation hearing has not only an adversarial side in factfinding, but a predictive and discretionary aspect in addressing the proper disposition when a violation has been found. See ante, at 366 (citing Gagnon v. Scarpelli, supra, at 787 (quoting Morrissey v. Brewer, supra, at 480)). And I agree that open-mindedness at the discretionary, dispositional stage is promoted by the relative informality of the proceeding even at its factfinding stage. Gagnon v. Scarpelli, supra, at 786. That informality is fostered by limiting issues so that lawyers are not always necessary, 411 U. S., at 787-788, and by appointing lay members to parole boards, Morrissey v. Brewer, supra, at 489. There is no question, either, that application of an exclusionary rule, if there is no waiver of Fourth Amendment rights, will tend to underscore the adversary character of the factfinding process. This cannot, however, be a dispositive objection to an exclusionary rule. Any revocation hearing is adversary to a degree: counsel must now be provided whenever the complexity of fact issues so warrant, Gagnon v. Scarpelli, supra, at 787, and lay board members are just as capable of passing upon Fourth Amend-lar arrestee will end up challenging the lawfulness of his arrest in a formal deportation proceeding." Id., at 1044. As the instant case may suggest, there is no reason to expect parolees to be so reticent.
377
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