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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
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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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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)
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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
OH8: Calling for drug dog after warning ticket issued unreasonably extended stop
“Regardless, Officer Ashenfelter acknowledged that the traffic violation investigation was completed at 11:10. He called for the canine unit at 11:12, and the canine unit arrived at 11:18 a.m. [¶] Thus, the evidence reflects that the officer, after completing his … Continue reading
Lawfare Podcast: Chris Slobogin on Virtual Searches
Lawfare Podcast: Chris Slobogin on Virtual Searches by Jen Patja Howell:
S.D.N.Y.: The SW was as particular as the information officers had would allow
“In this case, by contrast, there is no indication that law enforcement had a wealth of detailed information that was not reflected in the search warrant. The Premises Warrant was not required to provide more details regarding the specific electronic … Continue reading
NE: Police don’t have to decide the constitutionality of the laws they enforce
Police officers are not legal scholars, and they don’t have to guess as to the constitutionality of the laws they enforced. They need only act reasonably in reliance on statute or ordinance. State v. Albarenga, 313 Neb. 72 (Dec. 23, … Continue reading
NJ: Opening a car door is a search
Opening a car door is a search. State v. Gray, 2022 N.J. Super. LEXIS 144 (Dec. 20, 2022). “In sum, the Court finds it is clear that Officer Spain’s purpose in opening Defendant’s door and asking him to step out … Continue reading
MD: RS is based on an objective test
“[T]he totality of the circumstances assessment to determine the existence of reasonable articulable suspicion is and remains an objective test.” Flight can also be consistent with innocence. Washington v. State, 2022 Md. LEXIS 524 (Dec. 19, 2022). Reasonable suspicion developed … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: PC for admin. warrant became stale before it was sought
This administrative search warrant under OSHA became stale by the government’s delay in seeking it and litigation delays. Also, USMJs have jurisdiction to issue administrative inspection warrants. F.R.C.P. 72 objections do not apply to administrative warrants because they frustrate enforcement … Continue reading
W.D.Va.: This was a “well-tuned and correct” hunch by the officer, but it wasn’t RS
Ultimately there was not reasonable suspicion on the totality. It was essentially a “well-tuned and correct” hunch. Many—but not all—of the remaining reasonable suspicion factors bear a close resemblance to those presented, but ultimately rejected, in United States v. Bowman, … Continue reading
CA7: Pro se letter to court to preserve search claim wasn’t conditional plea
Defendant pled to the indictment, having written a letter to the court that he wanted to preserve his search claim. His pro se letter did not satisfy the conditional plea rule. United States v. Turner, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 35476 … Continue reading
NY1: When state doesn’t challenge standing, it’s taken as conceded
When the state doesn’t challenge standing, it’s taken as conceded. The trial court thus erred in deciding standing. People v. Bonilla, 2022 NY Slip Op 07304, 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7136 (1st Dept. Dec. 22, 2022). Defendant had his … Continue reading
OH: The fact a cell phone was found at the scene of a car crash gives no PC to search it for evidence of distracted driving merely by its presence
The fact a cell phone was found at the scene of a car crash gives no probable cause to search it for evidence of distracted driving merely by its presence. “[*P1] In this appeal, we are asked to decide whether … Continue reading
The Conversation: Not Big Brother, but close: a surveillance expert explains some of the ways we’re all being watched, all the time
The Conversation: Not Big Brother, but close: a surveillance expert explains some of the ways we’re all being watched, all the time (“Nearly ten years on, surveillance technologies permeate all aspects of our lives. They collect swathes of data from … Continue reading
WI: When statute or ordinance on which search was based is challenged, AG or city must be present
When challenging the constitutionality of an ordinance or statute as making a search and seizure unreasonable, defendant must join the city or notify the AG to participate. Without it, that’s waiver. “Because Raddemann has not shown compliance with Wis. Stat. … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Attic apt and treehouse not specified in SW, but searches there still reasonable
An attic apartment and a treehouse were not specifically within the terms of the warrant, but the search was still reasonable. United States v. Ayala, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 227976 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 19, 2022). Defendant didn’t timely challenge his … Continue reading
NYLJ: Geofence Warrants, January 6 and the Fourth Amendment
NYLJ Law.com: Geofence Warrants, January 6 and the Fourth Amendment (“Recently, litigation in several of the January 6th cases has disclosed the extensive use of this geofence search warrants. The Fourth Amendment implications raised by the use of this new investigative tool … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: 14 years of emails in a complicated tax fraud scheme wasn’t overbroad
Fourteen years worth of emails wasn’t overbroad here. “The case involves a complex tax evasion scheme taking place over many years and across international borders. A wide variety of documents would be relevant to prove this scheme. The warrant in … Continue reading
OR: Even constitutional challenges need to be preserved below
Even constitutional challenges need to be preserved below. Jimenez v. Dep’t of Revenue, 370 Or. 543 (Dec. 15, 2022). The court does not find the officer’s testimony credible. He claimed he saw defendant with binoculars from 100′ away buying liquor … Continue reading
CA6: 4A generally doesn’t apply to sentencing enhancements
“The Fourth Amendment does not apply to sentencing enhancements. … We have recognized a possible exception to this rule—when officers illegally seized the evidence for the very purpose of enhancing the defendant’s sentence—but Wyse makes no such allegation.” United States … Continue reading
DC: “Handcuffing is ordinarily improper in a Terry stop absent an objective safety concern.”
“Handcuffing is ordinarily improper in a Terry stop absent an objective safety concern. See United States v. Smith, 373 F. Supp. 3d 223, 241 (D.D.C. 2019); Haynes v. Minnehan, 14 F.4th 830, 835 n.4 (8th Cir. 2021) (‘[A]bsent an objective … Continue reading