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Recent Posts
- D.Alaska: With a SW for a cell phone, officers should ask, not make, def to open the phone with his finger
- CA2: Statement there was CP on computer was PC to seize it for a SW
- S.D.Iowa: Cell phone search for info on drugs and guns didn’t need second warrant when sex offenses stumbled upon
- 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
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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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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
N.D.Iowa: Car transporter has common authority to consent
A car being hauled west was searched on the car hauler’s truck by consent of the hauler. He had common authority to do that. Moreover, defendant’s standing as to the vehicle was tenuous at best. Registration had expired before the … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Border search exception doesn’t permit cell phone search for proof of a prior domestic crime
The border search exception does not apply to searching defendant’s cell phone at Customs for proof of a domestic crime, here mail theft. United States v. Carpenter, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11014 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 23, 2023). The drug dog … Continue reading
M.D.Ga.: Officer isn’t obliged to mention he could smell marijuana coming from the car
An officer smelling marijuana in a car isn’t obliged to tell the motorist he could for it to be true. United States v. Perkins, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10564 (M.D. Ga. Jan. 19, 2023). At worst, the officer’s false statement … Continue reading
ND: Trial court’s finding of investigatory purpose for inventory search supported by record
The district court found that the purported inventory search was really for investigatory purposes, and the evidence supports that conclusion. The inevitable discovery exception also does not apply here. State v. Krall, 2023 ND 8, 2023 N.D. LEXIS 9 (Jan. … Continue reading
ABA: Katz or Dogs? Why the Katz Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Test Is More Applicable to Advancing Technology than a Test Applied to Dog Sniffs
Katz or Dogs? Why the Katz Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Test Is More Applicable to Advancing Technology than a Test Applied to Dog Sniffs by Blade M. Allen (ABA Criminal Justice Jan. 23, 2023). (And I’m tired of cutsy Katz … Continue reading
CT: Automobile exception still applied even though def was arrested 500′ from car
Defendant was arrested 500′ from his car. The car was still subject to the automobile exception because there was enough connection. He still had the keys on him. State v. Griffin, 2023 Conn. App. LEXIS 8 (Jan. 24, 2023):
E.D.Pa.: Failure to specify in 2255 how 4A was violated is waiver
In a 2255 ineffective assistance claim, “Defendant fails to specify either how his Fourth Amendment rights were violated or what evidence counsel should have sought to suppress.” That alone is enough to deny. It’s denied on the merits, too. United … Continue reading
CA3: Going from home to a drug deal is nexus to the home
“Contrary to Torres’ arguments, when an individual is suspected of dealing narcotics, probable cause to search his home does not demand a showing that he deals those narcotics at his home. The common-sense likelihood that drug dealers keep evidence of … Continue reading
KY: Defs showed enough to get a post-conviction hearing officers planted drugs they pled guilty to
Defendants moved to vacate guilty pleas for drug possession after the officers involved were federally indicted for planting drugs on suspects. The trial court denied without a hearing because of the guilty pleas. The CoA reversed and ordered a hearing. … Continue reading
OH6: State could get a jury instruction that defendant refused to submit to a DNA search
The state could get a jury instruction that defendant refused to submit to a DNA search. State v. Roberts, 2023-Ohio-142, 2023 Ohio App. LEXIS 131 (6th Dist. Jan. 18, 2023). The facts in isolation may not show reasonable suspicion but … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Backyard firepit was part of curtilage
A firepit in defendant’s yard (an “outdoor living area”) was part of the curtilage. The officer, however, was lawfully on the curtilage for a knock-and-talk. United States v. Thurman, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9358 (E.D. Tenn. Jan. 19, 2023).* Sometimes … Continue reading
S.D.Ill.: When moving to suppress “data” one has to be specific
Defendant’s motion to suppress “data” and “associated data” fails because of his failure to show what and where it was or could be. (It kind of becomes a general motion to suppress.) United States v. Smith, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
AR: Claim state’s response to motion to suppress was judicial admission has to be presented to trial court
To argue that the state’s admissions in a response to a motion to suppress amount to a judicial admission of fact, the issue has to be argued to the trial court to preserve it. Otherwise, the trial court is free … Continue reading
CA4: Failure to turn on bodycam before frisk not shown to be in bad faith
Officer’s failure to turn on his bodycam before frisk here doesn’t require an adverse inference of destruction of evidence. Bad faith isn’t shown. United States v. Aguirre-Cuenca, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 1105 (4th Cir. Jan. 18, 2023). Defendant’s appeal is … Continue reading
By 2022, one would think that all would know planning a crime with Google searches would be incriminating; but no
Yahoo news: Brian Walshe pleads not guilty to murder: Everything we know about the case: In court Wednesday, prosecutor Lynn Beland said investigators believe Brian Walshe dismembered his wife and disposed of her remains after using their son’s iPad to … Continue reading
CA5: GFE to scope of search moots inquiring into PC
Because the good faith exception applied to the scope of search, the merits of the justification for the warrant is moot. United States v. Edwards, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 1032 (5th Cir. Jan. 17, 2023). A passenger didn’t have standing … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Pending recalculation of time on parole didn’t affect legality of parole search
Defendant’s state remaining parole time was subjected to recalculation but it hadn’t happened by the time of the parole search based on a tip he had a firearm. Therefore it was reasonable. Alternatively, it was by consent. United States v. … Continue reading
NC: Officer who had knowledge of driver’s medical disqualification from driving could make a stop
“Therefore, a law enforcement officer with either probable cause or reasonable suspicion to believe that the driver of a vehicle is driving with a medically canceled license may conduct a lawful traffic stop of that vehicle without running afoul of … Continue reading
DE: State habeas not for 4A claims
A state habeas petition is not how one presents a Fourth Amendment claim. Chrisden v. State, 2023 Del. LEXIS 17 (Jan. 13, 2023). Defendant’s traffic stop was factually justified. The smell of marijuana and his admissions gave probable cause to … Continue reading