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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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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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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
W.D.Ky.: Presence of a passenger doesn’t alter analysis of abandonment of a vehicle
Defendant’s flight from an automobile is a waiver of his reasonable expectation of privacy. The fact a passenger was left behind doesn’t make it not abandonment as to him. United States v. Howard, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140670 (W.D. Ky. … Continue reading
D.V.I.: Boat without lights at night is subject to stop
A boat operating at night without lights in U.S. Customs waters violates federal law and it is subject to stop. United States v. Romero-Amaro, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140477 (D.V.I. Aug. 8, 2022). In the tire chalking case, nominal damages … Continue reading
Motherboard: This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion
Motherboard: This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion by Jason Koebler and Anna Merlan (“Motherboard has obtained court documents that show Facebook gave police a teenager’s private chats about her abortion. Cops then used … Continue reading
D.Minn.: No 4A claim for seizure of legal papers in prison
There is no Fourth Amendment claim for seizure of legal papers when an inmate was moving within a prison. Smith v. Starr, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139361 (D. Minn. Aug. 5, 2022). “Following the arrest, however, the agents lawfully knew … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Police delay in responding to 911 call in part belied exigency
There no longer was exigency, in part here from the police delay in responding to 911 call, and what was observed was innocuous. No exigency on the totality. Cotten v. Miller, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139360 (D. Minn. Aug. 5, … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Towing a trailer to police station to execute a SW on it was reasonable
Police had probable cause that a sexual assault occurred in defendant’s trailer, so they seized it to get a search warrant. Before executing the warrant, they had it towed to a police station. Defendant was in jail and had no … Continue reading
CT: Def’s missing father was exigency for warrantless entry
The entry into defendant’s house was justified by the emergency exception because his father had been missing for days. State v. Samuolis, 2022 Conn. LEXIS 213 (Aug. 9, 2022). As to probable cause, “The district court found the affidavits constitutionally … Continue reading
OK: 5A’s foregone conclusion rule applies to passcodes
The foregone conclusion rule applies to defendant’s Fifth Amendment claim revealing the password to his electronics would incriminate him. Reynolds v. State, 2022 OK CR 14, 2022 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 14 (Aug. 4, 2022):
CA5: Probable cause defeats a malicious prosecution claim
Probable cause defeats a malicious prosecution claim. Payton v. Town of Maringouin, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21506 (5th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022):
IA: Smell of MJ smoke 6 days earlier wasn’t stale here
“[W]e conclude that although this was an isolated event and the evidence sought was easily removable, the passage of six days was not significant enough to render the warrant stale.” State v. Euchner, 2022 Iowa App. LEXIS 590 (Aug. 3, … Continue reading
CA8: Protective sweep of vehicle on RS reasonable even if def standing outside
When there is reasonable suspicion a driver is armed, a protective sweep of his vehicle is permitted even though he’s outside of it. United States v. Dabney, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21400 (8th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022). Family member was … Continue reading
CA9: Absolute immunity for DA advising on a SW application
A DA advising police on a second search warrant was prosecutorial, not investigatory, for immunity purposes. Haworth v. City of Walla Walla, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21370 (9th Cir. Aug. 2, 2022). Local court rule for drug testing of bailbondsman … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: 4A does not require medical personnel participate in a prison strip search
The Fourth Amendment does not require medical personnel participate in a prison strip search. Graham v. Wright, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136026 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 1, 2022). Defendant’s stop for late night knocking on the door of a house where … Continue reading
CA11: “the nude dancing and adult entertainment industry is closely regulated” for 4A purposes
“Based on a substantial history of heavy regulation, we conclude that the nude dancing and adult entertainment industry is closely regulated for Fourth Amendment purposes so that no reasonable expectation of privacy could exist for the proprietor. From limitations concerning … Continue reading
W.D.Pa. shows you can win a MJ smell as PC argument
“Based on the record developed at the suppression hearing, the Court finds that Detective McGee did not have reasonable suspicion to seize Defendant for the following reasons: (1) the Court does not credit Detective McGee’s testimony regarding the odor of … Continue reading
D.C.Cir.: Bivens not extended to immigration detention
Bivens should not be extended to an immigration detention. K.O. v. Sessions, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 20984 (D.C. Cir. July 29, 2022). Plaintiff filed a § 1983 case against his prosecution which fails on Younger grounds. As to an illegal … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: Court decides geofence warrant on GFE without getting to 4A merits
Defendant was a suspect in a series of 35 carjackings where the car was shortly thereafter used in an armed robbery. A geofence warrant was used to track defendant at the scenes of the robberies. After discussing the case law … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: A SW for those suspected of sending in drug-laced fake legal papers
For defense lawyers wondering about the increase in searches of legal mail, this case involved a search warrant of the house of someone suspected to sending in drug laced fake legal papers into federal prisons. Barker v. United States, 2022 … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Small closed container in a gun case was properly searched incident to arrest
Officers entered the home on an arrest warrant and consent. Inside, they saw a gun case. A search of a small closed container in the gun case was reasonable incident to arrest. If it was in a dresser drawer or … Continue reading