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- Natl. L. Rev.: The Reasonableness of Retaining Personal Property Post-Seizure and the Ascendancy of Text, History, and Tradition in Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence
- Five on habeas
- FL6: Handicapped parking violation justified stop
- CA6: Electronic devices were “property under his control” subject to search while on supervised release
- N.D.Tex.: PC and GFE questions were close, and that’s good enough
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (27,400+ on WordPress as of 7/23/24) -
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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Section 1983 Blog -
"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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Author Archives: Hall
Natl. L. Rev.: The Reasonableness of Retaining Personal Property Post-Seizure and the Ascendancy of Text, History, and Tradition in Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence
Natl. L. Rev.: The Reasonableness of Retaining Personal Property Post-Seizure and the Ascendancy of Text, History, and Tradition in Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence by Ty E. Howard [the case is posted here]:
Five on habeas
NYPD used a tracking order based on exigency followed by a written order to locate him. This was not shown to be an unconscionable breakdown in the process for Stone purposes. Also, his phone calls from Rikers were validly recorded. … Continue reading
CA6: Electronic devices were “property under his control” subject to search while on supervised release
Defendant’s electronic devices were “property under his control” subject to search while on supervised release. United States v. Ramadan, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 23276 (6th Cir. Sep. 11, 2024). Plaintiff pleads an unreasonable strip search in prison, but the necessary … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: PC and GFE questions were close, and that’s good enough
The search warrant survives both a finding of probable cause and application of the good faith exception: “Here, the Court agrees with Defendant that the affidavit at issue presents a ‘close call’ as to whether the good-faith exception applies and … Continue reading
Book Review of Unreasonable: Constitutionalizing Racism
Book Review: Jonathan P. Feingold, Constitutionalizing Racism, 104 B.U. L. Rev. Online 1 (2024):
N.D.Ga.: Exigency shown for warrantless entry to prevent destruction of drugs
The government showed exigency for what they feared was imminent destruction of drugs for a warrantless entry and protective sweep. Then a warrant was obtained with probable cause. United States v. Banks, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163658 (N.D. Ga. Aug. … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Failure to provide medical care to an arrestee can be a 4A issue
Arrestee plaintiff pled due process, but it’s a Fourth Amendment claim for not “provid[ing] objectively reasonable post-arrest [medical] care to Plaintiff, a non-pretrial detainee, by ‘imped[ing] the medical staff from completing their task and pressuring them to discharge [Plaintiff],’ which … Continue reading
TN: Def opened door to admit suppressed cell phone evidence by asking the one question too many
Defendant successfully kept out cell phone tracking records for lack of probable cause. “However, during trial, based on defense counsel’s question of whether there was any ‘physical evidence’ connecting Defendant to the case, the trial court ruled that Defendant opened … Continue reading
MN: Order for buccal swab during pendency of case requires SW
A search warrant is required for a buccal swab after a criminal case is proceeding. State v. Steeprock, 2024 Minn. App. LEXIS 345 (July 29, 2024); State v. Jones, 2024 Minn. App. LEXIS 412 (Aug. 29, 2024). The search warrant … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: When a document is discussed in a SW affidavit, including the document isn’t required
When a written document is involved and discussed in a search warrant affidavit, including the document is not constitutionally required. Misstating it might make a Franks claim. United States v. Shetty, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161863 (W.D. Wash. Sep. 9, … Continue reading
D.Conn.: LEO accessing public social media accounts doesn’t implicate 4A
A prison security official’s accessing a potential visitor’s social media accounts to determine whether the visitor is some kind of security threat doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. Lawrence v. Zack, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161377 (D. Conn. Sep. 9, 2024). … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Fictitious tags stop justifies SI
Based on circuit authority, a stop and arrest for fictitious tags justifies a search incident on the driver. United States v. Jones, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161352 (E.D. Wis. Sep. 9, 2024), quoting United States v. Travis, 2023 U.S. App. … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Def’s Franks challenge fails for being vague as to what was inadequate and even which warrants were being challenged
“First, on a fundamental level, Bressi’s Franks request is insufficiently specific for this Court to reconstruct the warrants. Bressi does not point to a specific search warrant he claims was obtained through Agent O’Malley’s intentional or reckless disregard for the … Continue reading
Harvard Law Review: Tech Companies’ Terms of Service Agreements Could Bring New Vitality to the Fourth Amendment
Harvard Law Review: Tech Companies’ Terms of Service Agreements Could Bring New Vitality to the Fourth Amendment by Brent Skorup [that is, if they choose to do anything about it]:
LATimes: She endured a traumatic cavity search when visiting a California prison. Now she won a $5.6-million settlement
LATimes: She endured a traumatic cavity search when visiting a California prison. Now she won a $5.6-million settlement by Terry Castleman (“When Christina Cardenas visited her husband in 2019 at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, she was forced to … Continue reading
AP: Ex-officer’s lies led to couple’s death in Houston drug raid, prosecutor tells jurors
AP: Ex-officer’s lies led to couple’s death in Houston drug raid, prosecutor tells jurors by Juan A. Lozano (“A former Houston police officer is responsible for the 2019 deaths of a couple during a raid of their home because his … Continue reading
NACDL CLE: Artificial Justice: AI, Tech and Criminal Defense (Oct. 7-8)
NACDL CLE: Artificial Justice: AI, Tech and Criminal Defense, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, October 7-8 from NACDL’s Fourth Amendment Center and Georgetown:
TN: Cell phone recently calling deceased and it being at scene of murder was nexus
The state showed nexus to defendant’s iPhone and the crime by known recent calls between the co-conspirators and the victim and the phone being at the scene of the crime. State v. Young, 2024 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 397 (Sep. … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Losing suppression motion then pleading nolo was collateral estoppel in later civil case
Plaintiff raised a search issue in her underlying criminal case and lost. Later, she pled nolo and thus could not appeal. That’s final enough for collateral estoppel to apply in her § 1983 case. Harr v. Washington Area Humane Soc’y, … Continue reading