Move over Wong Sun, the Spanish have something better than the exclusionairy rule!

That's right, Spain, that great nation that has given us such niceties as the inquisition, the Spanish tickler, the Garotte, and the completed genocide of the Arawak, have brought something to the modern world that may actually be laudable:

Attempting to hold those involved in illegal searches accountable criminally.

"Baltasar Garzon, the Spanish judge who famously indicted late Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet, has found himself in the dock for the first time.

He went on trial at the supreme court in Madrid charged with illegally authorizing police to bug the conversations of lawyers with clients.

....

The judge is accused of overstepping his authority by ordering the recording of prison conversations between three defendants and their lawyers.

Wait - doesn't that happen at FDC every day?

The prosecution is actually not as great as one might think. It is a private prosecution - the same thing that some Spaniards tried to do against Dick Cheney and George W. Bush (which I would support), and is probably tied to the fact that Garzon has been a bit of a renegade when it comes to targeting those that carry themselves as above the law. In Spain, Judges serve as investigating forces in criminal prosecutions - similar to a grand jury.

But, wouldn't it be nice if one day, law enforcement personnel who violate the Fourth Amendment actually faced some repercussions instead of just suppression?