Megan Garrett

Rudolph Ivanovich Abel a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics a Colonel in the Soviet government’s espionage agency, K.G.B. entered the United States illegally turned into the F.B.I. by Reino Hayhanen in May of 1957 arrested on June 21, 1957 by I.N.S. BACKGROUND OF RUDOLPH ABEL (PLANTIFF)

tried for illegal immigration as well as espionage convicted and sentenced for both in the Eastern U.S. District Court of New York appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit the court arrived at the same conclusion during the appeal FOLLOWING ABEL’S ARREST

James B. Donovan American citizen former insurance lawyer defended Abel through the three trials offered to the court the possibility of an exchange with the Soviet Union if they were to capture an American spy ABEL’S LAWYER

The United States more accurately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Services DEFENDANT

When appealed to the Supreme Court and was granted the petition for certiorari, though there was no reason as to why the case was accepted. the argument was limited to two questions: whether the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States are violated by a search and seizure of evidence without a search warrant in the case of an illegal alien accused of espionage whether the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution are violated when articles are seized unrelated to the I.N.S. warrant and are introduced as evidence for espionage CASE

On March 28, 1960, the court held in favor of the United States in the case Abel v. United States with a final vote of 5-4. denied Abel’s claim that the F.B.I. used the I.N.S.’s administrative warrant for illegitimate purposes the departments had every valid reason to cooperate in the situation, thus there was no evidence of unlawful action in the case the Court upheld the lower courts’ belief that the evidence was obtained solely for the purpose of Abel’s deportation, not to prosecute him for any other crime also upheld that the searches that produced the evidence were proper searches for the Government to have made and were not in violation of Abel’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights MAJORITY DECISION

pointed out that the F.B.I. was the driving force of the arrest and had plenty of time to get a search warrant also stated that the F.B.I. had directly violated Abel’s Fourth Amendment protections through the arrest procedures said this case opens up law enforcement agencies to where they are no longer under judicial control DISSENTING OPINION

during the height of the Cold War many were mad an American was defending a Soviet spy James Donovan used Abel to negotiate made an exchange for : Francis Gary Powers, a downed U-2 pilot Yale student, Frederic L. Pryor Donovan was one of the only people who truly gained an understanding of Abel throughout the cases and worked honestly to make sure he was treated fairly The public hated Abel, so they were appalled that Donovan was audacious enough to take it to the Supreme Court POLITICAL IMPACT

I disagree with the Supreme Court’s majority decision in the case I believe that Rudolph Abel’s Fourth Amendment Constitutional rights were violated when the F.B.I. and I.N.S. searched his belongings and obtained his property without the proper warrants and approval completely eliminated the judicial branch from the process by ignoring the need for proper warrants MY OPINION

Movie released in 2015 starring Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan, Austin Stowell Based off of a novel by James Donovan called Strangers on a Bridge describes the case and the entire situation, including the prisoner exchange Clip of Movie: BRIDGE OF SPIES

MOVIE-PHOTO COMPARISONS

Court Listener. Court Listener. October 13, ivanovich-abel-also-known-/ (accessed November 25, 2015). Google Scholar. Abel v. United States, 362 US Supreme Court March 28, el+v.+United+States&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47&as_vis=1 (accessed November 25, 2015). Graphiq, Inc. Abel, Alias Mark, Alias Collins, Alias Goldfus, v. United States. July Mark-Alias-Collins-Alias-Goldfus-v-United-States (accessed November 25, 2015). History vs. Hollywood. History vs. Hollywood (accessed November 25, 2015). WORKS CITED