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- N.D.N.Y.: DNA by SW in FL in CODIS could be used in NY; defense counsel not IAC for not making def’s argument
- D.Ariz.: Smell of alcohol in the car on Navajo Nation was PC
- NY3: No REP in parole GPS monitoring as to police
- TX: An entry into a person’s homestead for civil discovery has limits
- S.D.W.Va.: Subpoenas for records on advocacy positions violated 1A
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
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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
S.D.Ohio: City’s mowing unkempt yard wasn’t 4A violatoin
The city’s coming on to a sovereign citizen’s yard to mow it when he refused did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Prows v. City of Oxford, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177976 (S.D. Ohio Sep. 30, 2024).* Defendant’s motion for return … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Vehicle of arrested parolee still subject to parole search when he had no access to it
Even though this parolee was arrested and in custody, the vehicle he was in was still subject to search even though he was out of control of it at the time. His search incident on parole argument fails, too, as … Continue reading
CA1: Church rectory was objectively a single family dwelling; it had common living areas
It was reasonable for officers seeking a search warrant for a church rectory for child pornography to consider it a single-family dwelling. All the objective information was that it was single family residence. It turned out to be a residence … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: A state court dispute over return of seized property held by feds heading toward contempt was removable to federal court
Defendant’s property was seized under a state search warrant. Defendant sought return in state court, but it had been transferred to federal officers. They refused return. Contempt was sought against the federal officers in state court and this was removable … Continue reading
WA: Arrest and search for a probation violation of a conviction that could have been sealed but wasn’t yet was valid
While defendant’s drug conviction could have been sealed and thus not supported his probation violation arrest, it hadn’t been yet, and the arrest was still valid. State v. Balles, 2024 Wash. App. LEXIS 1937 (Sep. 27, 2024). “Having reviewed [the … Continue reading
D.P.R.: REP in workplace isn’t automatic; here there wasn’t any in a postal sorting area
A reasonable expectation of privacy in one’s workspace is not automatic. Here it was a postal worker in a sorting area, and that wasn’t private. United States v. Alarcón-Rodríguez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175916 (D.P.R. Sep. 25, 2024).* “Because a … Continue reading
AK: Exclusionary rule doesn’t apply in civil cases
The exclusionary rule doesn’t apply in civil cases in Alaska. Alaska R.E. 412. O’Brien v. Delaplain, 2024 Alas. LEXIS 99 n.35(Sep. 27, 2024). The officer’s observations on a table near the door from outside the dwelling during a knock-and-talk provided … Continue reading
D.Minn.: A cell phone tracking order was permitted where there was an arrest warrant for defendant
“Despite a dearth of binding precedent, this Court is satisfied that the existence of an active arrest warrant provides a sufficient basis for a magistrate judge to find probable cause to issue a tracking warrant allowing law enforcement to monitor … Continue reading
N.D.Okla.: Pipe on console of MMJ card holder not PC for plain view
A pipe on the car console of a MMJ card holder was not “immediately apparent” it was incriminating for plain view. United States v. Vasquez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174528 (N.D. Okla. Sep. 25, 2024). Plaintiff filed his Fourth Amendment … Continue reading
AR & PA: Def’s statements at time of search used at trial
Defendant’s DNA was taken by warrant at the jail, and his admissions about the offense during that captured on bodycam were admitted at trial. There was no questioning; it was voluntary. Torres v. State, 2024 Ark. App. 457 (Sep. 25, … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: GFE applies, but PC, too
The affidavit for the warrant here is more than “bare bones” so the good faith exception applies. “Even if the good-faith exception did not apply, the warrant is still valid because it is supported by probable cause.” United States v. … Continue reading
FL4: REP in Facebook private messages
(1) Florida’s 4th DCA finds a reasonable expectation of privacy in Facebook private messages as analogous to cell phone text messages. (2) When the records were seized under a warrant for a theft, they couldn’t be searched for evidence of … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: No constitutional requirement to get arrest warrant for misdemeanor committed in officer’s presence
There is no constitutional requirement for an officer to get an arrest warrant to arrest based on a misdemeanor committed in his presence. The common law says the officer can. United States v. Alvarez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 172609 (M.D. … Continue reading
PA: The Rule of Law here counsels against suppression for a jurisdictional violation
A stop outside the officer’s jurisdiction in violation of statute should not lead to suppression of evidence. The rule of law counsels against suppression. The jurisdictional statutes are for accountabiliy. Commonwealth v. Eakin, 2024 PA Super 222, 2024 Pa. Super. … Continue reading
NE: Not IAC to not challenge state’s obtaining phone records
It was settled in this state long ago that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in third-party cell phone records. Therefore, defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not challenging it. State v. Rush, 317 Neb. 622 (Sep. 20, 2024).* On … Continue reading
Security Boulevard: Virginia Court Strikes Down Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
A trial court, so not binding: Security Boulevard: An Unexamined Life – Virginia Court Strikes Down Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) by Mark Rasch
D.D.C.: Even if electronic search protocol is a const’l requirement, GFE applies
The lack of an electronics search protocol in the warrant, even if it was constitutionally required, doesn’t even have to be decided because of the good faith exception. “Okafor suggests that the Constitution might nonetheless demand that a warrant specify … Continue reading
CT: Exigency shown for animal control entry
“Our scrupulous examination of the entire record supports the court’s conclusion that the officers had reasonable cause to believe that the dogs contained within the barn were in imminent harm and neglected, or cruelly treated.” City of Middletown v. Wagner, … Continue reading