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Recent Posts
- CA2: No 4A requirement for SWs being issued with notice to target
- CA6: Denying ptf access to his own bathroom during a search of his house stated 4A claim
- W.D.Mo.: Not exactly following the inventory policy doesn’t make it unreasonable under 4A
- GA: No IAC for not challenging complete cell phone download before search
- DNYUZ: CBP Workers Allegedly Used Government Databases to Spy on Exes, Crushes, and Colleagues
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com
Search and Seizure (6th ed. 2025)
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-26,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 600,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 50,000 posts since 2003 (29,000 on WordPress as of 12/31/25) -
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Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me -
"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well."
–Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw), Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things (1868) (erroneously attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, among others) -
“I am still learning.”
—Domenico Giuntalodi (but misattributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (common phrase throughout 1500's)). -
"Love work; hate mastery over others; and avoid intimacy with the government."
—Shemaya, in the Thalmud -
"It is a pleasant world we live in, sir, a very pleasant world. There are bad people in it, Mr. Richard, but if there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers."
—Charles Dickens, “The Old Curiosity Shop ... With a Frontispiece. From a Painting by Geo. Cattermole, Etc.” 255 (1848) -
"A system of law that not only makes certain conduct criminal, but also lays down rules for the conduct of the authorities, often becomes complex in its application to individual cases, and will from time to time produce imperfect results, especially if one's attention is confined to the particular case at bar. Some criminals do go free because of the necessity of keeping government and its servants in their place. That is one of the costs of having and enforcing a Bill of Rights. This country is built on the assumption that the cost is worth paying, and that in the long run we are all both freer and safer if the Constitution is strictly enforced."
—Williams v. Nix, 700 F. 2d 1164, 1173 (8th Cir. 1983) (Richard Sheppard Arnold, J.), rev'd Nix v. Williams, 467 US. 431 (1984). -
"The criminal goes free, if he must, but it is the law that sets him free. Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence."
—Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 659 (1961). -
"Any costs the exclusionary rule are costs imposed directly by the Fourth Amendment."
—Yale Kamisar, 86 Mich.L.Rev. 1, 36 n. 151 (1987). -
"There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today."
— Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 39 (1968) (Douglas, J., dissenting). -
"The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property."
—Entick v. Carrington, 19 How.St.Tr. 1029, 1066, 95 Eng. Rep. 807 (C.P. 1765) -
"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people. And so, while we are concerned here with a shabby defrauder, we must deal with his case in the context of what are really the great themes expressed by the Fourth Amendment."
—United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 69 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting) -
"The course of true law pertaining to searches and seizures, as enunciated here, has not–to put it mildly–run smooth."
—Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 618 (1961) (Frankfurter, J., concurring). -
"A search is a search, even if it happens to disclose nothing but the bottom of a turntable."
—Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 325 (1987) -
"For the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. ... But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected."
—Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351 (1967) -
“Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded
rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
—United States v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1925) (Brandeis, J., dissenting)
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“Liberty—the freedom from unwarranted intrusion by government—is as easily lost through insistent nibbles by government officials who seek to do their jobs too well as by those whose purpose it is to oppress; the piranha can be as deadly as the shark.”
—United States v. $124,570, 873 F.2d 1240, 1246 (9th Cir. 1989) -
"You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometimes / You just might find / You get what you need."
—Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, Let it Bleed (album, 1969) -
"In Germany, they first came for the communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for
the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came
for me–and by that time there was nobody left to speak up."
—Martin Niemöller (1945) [he served seven years in a concentration camp] -
“Children grow up thinking the adult world is ordered, rational, fit for purpose. It’s crap. Becoming a man is realising that it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness, that’s freedom.”
– John le Carré, The Night Manager (1993), line by Richard Roper -
"The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime."
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948) -
The book was dedicated in the first (1982) and sixth (2025) editions to Justin William Hall (1975-2025). He was three when this project started in 1978.
Website design by Wally Waller, Colorado Springs. 
Author Archives: Hall
CA2: No 4A requirement for SWs being issued with notice to target
Search warrants are usually issued ex parte, and there’s no Fourth Amendment justification for advance notice to the target of the search. It avoids warning the target to destroy or hide evidence or flee. United States v. Leeper, 2026 U.S. … Continue reading
CA6: Denying ptf access to his own bathroom during a search of his house stated 4A claim
“In light of totality of the circumstances of this case, we thus ask whether Plaintiff has plausibly alleged that Defendant Josephs’ repeated refusal of Plaintiff’s requests to use his own restroom rendered Plaintiff’s seizure unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Though … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Not exactly following the inventory policy doesn’t make it unreasonable under 4A
Not exactly following the inventory policy doesn’t make it unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Maldonadochavarria, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180956 (W.D. Mo. July 13, 2026). “Here, King was placed in handcuffs and moved from the Rite Shop … Continue reading
GA: No IAC for not challenging complete cell phone download before search
Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not challenging a complete cell phone download as overbroad before the search because no binding case says it is. Lenon v. State, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 250 (Aug. 13, 2026). The question is not whether plaintiff … Continue reading
DNYUZ: CBP Workers Allegedly Used Government Databases to Spy on Exes, Crushes, and Colleagues
DNYUZ: CBP Workers Allegedly Used Government Databases to Spy on Exes, Crushes, and Colleagues:
ABAJ: Is resetting your phone after being stopped by Border Patrol agents a federal offense?
ABAJ: Is resetting your phone after being stopped by Border Patrol agents a federal offense? By Anna Stolley Persky:
NYT: Flock Announces Privacy Updates to Its Car-Tracking Cameras
NYT: Flock Announces Privacy Updates to Its Car-Tracking Cameras by Aruni Soni (“Critics say the measures are “public relations” and leave room for continued misuse.”):
S.D.N.Y.: Project Veritas SW unsealed with limited redactions
One of the Project Veritas search warrant affidavits is partially redacted for privacy of some people and ordered filed. Redactions must be limited. In re Search Warrant Dated Nov. 5, 2021, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179075 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 2026):
D.Ariz.: SW for firearm didn’t go stale
This search warrant for a firearm wasn’t stale because firearms are kept. In any event, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Cherry, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178900 (D. Ariz. Aug. 11, 2026).* Defendant’s failure to file a post-trial … Continue reading
VA: Reverse keyword search warrant to Google decided on GFE but not merits
Reverse keyword search warrant to Google connected defendant to this crime. It’s not like geofence warrants in Chatrie, but the merits aren’t decided because the good faith exception applies in any event. Clements v. Commonwealth, 2026 Va. App. LEXIS 428 … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Two dog sniffs didn’t provide PC for vehicle search
The first dog sniff didn’t provide probable cause, but it did provide reasonable suspicion to continue the stop longer. Then a second sniff didn’t either. Motion to suppress granted. United States v. Copeland, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178749 (N.D. Ohio … Continue reading
GA reaffirms a constitutional right of privacy in medical records
Georgia reaffirms there is a constitutional right of privacy in medical records. Here it was a civil discovery dispute. Goodell v. Moulton, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 232 (Aug. 11, 2026):
N.D.Ohio: Dog sniff during initial records check did not extend the stop
The stop was not extended by the drug dog that arrived almost immediately and the sniff was done while the records check was going on. Alternatively, there was reasonable suspicion for it. United States v. Billips, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: Seizure of def’s Apple watch was valid as a search incident because it could be used to erase iPhone
Seizure of defendant’s Apple watch was valid incident to arrest because officers feared he could erase his iPhone with it. The traffic stop might have been pretextual, but it doesn’t matter because defendant had an arrest warrant on a federal … Continue reading
Truthout: First Came the Flock Cameras. Now Local Cops Want Autonomous Drones.
Truthout: First Came the Flock Cameras. Now Local Cops Want Autonomous Drones. by Michael Ludwig (“Hundreds of local police departments have received waivers to fly surveillance drones that navigate with AI.”):
NYT: The Surveillance Network Tracking Cars Across the U.S.
NYT: The Surveillance Network Tracking Cars Across the U.S. (there are now 120,000 cameras).
D.N.M.: 2¼ hour detention was still with RS despite 10th Cir.’s 90-minute limit
“Defendant was detained from approximately 4:45 a.m. until his release at around 7:00 a.m., a total duration of two hours and 15 minutes. … Having concluded that the initial detention was lawful, the Court must next address whether the detention … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: ALPR hit on stolen vehicle was RS for stop
A U-Haul van was reported stolen by them, and the LPN was entered into the ALPR database. It showed up near Pittsburgh, and that was reasonable suspicion to pull it over. United States v. Lewis, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177108 … Continue reading
S.D.Miss.: Cell tower dump violated 4A as a de facto geofence warrant
U.S. District Judge affirms U.S.M.J.’s decision that cell tower dumps violated the Fourth Amendment. The request was essentially a geofence warrant without a showing of need. In re Four Applications for Search Warrants Seeking Info. Associated with Particular Cellular Towers, … Continue reading