Agree about Law & Order - top notch all the way. The scripts, while being based on actual events, often have intriguing twists and turns. They may be plucked from the headlines, but the outcome is not always precictable nor does it necessrily follow those headlines.

Law & Order has been on for 11 years and earned many Emmys, proving that it is possible to produce a quality show replete with cast changes and other factors. Hats off.

I think that the reason that Law & Order continues to have high standards and is also "fresh", is that the main writers are former attorneys or practicing attorneys themselves. The cast is a mixture of younger and more "veteran" actors/actresses. Also, the cases tend to be about real incidents with a roman a clef type of ending.

Hi, I just saw an episode where the police prevented the suspect entering his apartment (with a toothpick) while waiting for the warrant. And the judge decided that the tapes they found in search couldn't be used as an evidence. Is this real in USA?

Why doesn't the links in Lawyer-Courtroom Dramas/Law&Order and Cop-shows/Law&Order point to the same place? This is just one show, although there is those two aspects in it.

Eeva - it's called illegal search and seizure and is in the Bill of Rights. In order to obtain a search warrant the police must have probable cause that they will find material evidence on the premises. In this particular situation, they didn't know what they'd find, they only wanted to prevent the tenant from gaining access and removing things. That's illegal.

I was just wondering, if the police had just kept interrogating the suspect in the hallway, had it still considered illegal prevention?

If the police could have kept him talking in the hallway until the search warrant arrived, then all would have been legal.

Thanks, Fran. I have wondered this a long time.

I guess things are different in Finland here. First, the police does not need the judge's permission but the one of higher police officer's to make a search. But, they must be investigating a crime that grants at least 2 years in prison.

And, if the evidence is found it is also used in trial. If there is something wrong in the methods of the police, they will stand a trial, too. (And the boss who granted the search, ofcourse.)

Eeva, unfortunately here when searches or evidence goes wrong an innocent person may go to jail and those involved won't get so much as a slap on the wrist.

That's why defendants need good defense attorneys if they should end up going to trial - they make everyone accountable.

The use of search warrants is one of the cornerstones of English Common Law. It is based on the belief that a "man's home is his castle". This is taken very seriously in the US. The search warrant must state exactly what the police are looking for. That's why many of us are very concerned about all the new powers that the Homeland Security Department has been given--but that's for another discussion..

I like both Ben Stone, and Jack McCoy for different qualities. Ben, because you could picture him doing something other than the law, when he quit. In fact one episode had Adam saying he 'personally knew Ben Stone was traveling in Europe.'And Jack, for two reasons: 1,aside from the law and getting the bad guys, he rides and loves motorcycles. 2, being the incurable romantic that I am, I think he truly loved Claire Kincaid, and he was devastated(sp?) when she was killed. but that's just me.