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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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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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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
OH7: Questioning def about drugs on his person extended stop
The traffic stop was delayed, and the public safety exception was not applicable, where the officer asked a compound question, and the questioning only appeared directed at getting an admission by appellant that he had drugs on him and suggesting … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Air freshener in a non-smoking rental car factor in RS
“[T]he air freshener in a non-smoking rental car was an early and legitimate basis for suspicion to be aroused. In general, the use of air fresheners is a recognized factor contributing to reasonable suspicion.” United States v. Hawari-Rasulullah, 2022 U.S. … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Not 4A violation to order def to keep hands visible
It is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment to tell the defendant to keep his hands visible and not reach in the car during a stop. If a person can be ordered out of the car for officer safety, … Continue reading
MS: SW for Arkansas car’s GPS was used to put it at scene of crime
Defendant’s car was registered in Arkansas and was believed to be in a shootout in Mississippi. The car was found in Arkansas. Defendant was arrested on a Mississippi warrant and a search warrant was issued for the car’s GPS to … Continue reading
CA10: Pre-PC hearing jail excessive force claim is a 4A claim, not 14A
A jail excessive force case that happened before plaintiff’s probable cause hearing is a Fourth Amendment claim, not under the Fourteenth Amendment. Geddes v. Weber Cty., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 22719 (10th Cir. Aug. 16, 2022):
LATimes: Police Commission sets new rules for how LAPD uses surveillance technology
LATimes: Police Commission sets new rules for how LAPD uses surveillance technology (“The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday adopted new rules for how police can use crimefighting technologies, despite opposition from advocacy groups who said they could lead to … Continue reading
Wired: Police Used a Baby’s DNA to Investigate Its Father for a Crime
Wired: Police Used a Baby’s DNA to Investigate Its Father for a Crime (“The blood is supposed to be used for medical purposes—these screenings identify babies with serious health issues, and they have been highly successful at reducing death and … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Protective sweep justified despite hearing no one inside
A protective sweep of defendant’s apartment was reasonable on the totality despite the officers not hearing anyone inside. United States v. Turner, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144215 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 12, 2022). “At no point did Veney voluntarily submit to … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Holding a vehicle 4 days before searching it was not unreasonable
“While law enforcement held the Durango for four days after the seizure before searching it pursuant to a warrant, this delay did not render the continuing seizure of the Durango unreasonable. See Donahue, 764 F.3d at 300-01 (collecting cases and … Continue reading
CA5: USPS letter carrier not a 4A govt actor
A regular USPS letter carrier is not a governmental actor the Fourth Amendment governs. Here, her thumb slipped through a preexisting hole in a package she was delivering, and she became suspicious it contained drugs and wouldn’t leave it at … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Prolonging traffic stop to inquire of probation or parole status unreasonable
Prolonging the traffic stop for further information on defendant’s parole and probation status was unreasonable. It diverted from the traffic stop. United States v. Gould, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142915 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2022). The protective sweep of defendant’s … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: 4A doesn’t protect a jail cell shakedown search; procedural due process does not apply
Defendant’s jail cell was subjected to a shakedown search, and it was reasonable. His claim of procedural due process safeguards come from civil cases and don’t apply. United States v. Arrington, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142770 (W.D.N.Y. Aug. 10, 2022). … Continue reading
NY2: Search of wallet during a frisk unreasonable
Officers violated the Fourth Amendment during defendant’s frisk when they removed his wallet from his pocket and searched it. People v. Lewis, 2022 NY Slip Op 04920, 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4797 (2d Dept. Aug. 10, 2022). The officer … Continue reading
CA4: Avoid “divide-and-conquer” reasoning on RS and PC
The record doesn’t definitively support the district court’s conclusion that the government proved forfeitability of the cash. The record was enough in dispute that there needed to be a trial on the merits. United States v. McClellan, 2022 U.S. App. … Continue reading
OR: No REP in medical records that include BAC results
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in medical records including the results of defendant’s BAC test. State v. Hoffman, 321 Or. App. 330 (Aug. 10, 2022):
PA: Failure to argue new case law where it came out 3-1/2 months before suppression hearing was waiver
Defendant doesn’t get the application of a case to his decided 3½ months before his suppression hearing where he didn’t argue it. Commonwealth v. Brown, 2022 PA Super 138 (Aug. 10, 2022). CSLI lawfully obtained before Carpenter saved by the … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: No QI for violation of knock-and-announce; fact question for trial
Defendant officers’ motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity for violating the knock-and-announce rule is denied. The law is well settled for 25 years and there are no blanket exceptions. The rest is fact bound. Murphy v. Grochowski, 2022 U.S. … Continue reading
CA4: It was “immediately apparent” glass pipe was drug paraphernalia
A glass pipe almost certainly for ingesting drugs was “immediately apparent” for plain view, citing United States v. Van Zee, 380 F.3d 342 (8th Cir. 2004). United States v. Runner, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21854 (4th Cir. Aug. 8, 2022). … Continue reading