Archives
-
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
-
Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
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)
-
“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
CA4: Choking out and killing a mentally ill man who only vaguely threatened himself was excessive force
“This appeal arises from a tragic incident that led to the death of Joshua Lawhon, an unarmed mentally ill man. Invoking 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Virginia state law, Lawhon’s mother, as administrator of his estate, brought this action against … Continue reading
TN: Civil investigative demand in deceptive trade practices case was reasonable
The Attorney General’s request for information (a subpoena) in a deceptive trade practices case was reasonable in scope and reasonably related to the AG’s authority under the statute. In re Investigation of Wall & Assocs., 2021 Tenn. App. LEXIS 449 … Continue reading
CA3: Federal court should abstain from entering state court red-flag proceeding
Federal court should abstain under Younger from a state red-flag law proceeding to remove firearms from the plaintiff. Greco v. Bruck, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 33660 (3d Cir. Nov. 12, 2021). Defendant’s being in an alley known for druggies and … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Felon in possession’s intentionally shooting himself and calling 911 led to reasonable entry
Defendant intentionally shot himself in the leg and called 911 for help. Police arrived and seized the gun, and he was a felon. The entry and remaining in the house was reasonable. United States v. Culpepper, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: One who could freely come and go from the house of another had standing
Defendant had a relationship with the property of another but he didn’t spend the night. He could come and go. That was sufficient for standing. The co-defendant’s case, however, already found probable cause. United States v. Futrell, 2021 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
Reason: “The Fourth Amendment Limits of Internet Content Preservation”
Reason: “The Fourth Amendment Limits of Internet Content Preservation” by Orin S. Kerr (“A strong Fourth Amendment claim that criminal defense lawyers should be making.”):
Politico: FBI raid on Project Veritas founder’s home sparks questions about press freedom
Politico: FBI raid on Project Veritas founder’s home sparks questions about press freedom by Josh Gerstein (“The action against James O’Keefe has prompted concern about the Biden administration’s commitment to the First Amendment.”) Is O’Keefe a “journalist” or not? He … Continue reading
Misc.
There was probable cause for the first and second search warrants for child pornography on defendant’s devices (took ~100 pages to say that). No exclusionary rule; good faith exception applies, too. United States v. Pena, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218914 … Continue reading
NY4: Minor typos in SW application don’t void the warrant
“We reject defendant’s contention that the search warrant for his cell phones was issued without probable cause. According ‘great deference to the issuing [Justice]’ …, we conclude that Supreme Court properly determined that there was sufficient information in the warrant … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: No hearing required on application of GFE; papers already show it
Defendant does not get a hearing on application of the good faith exception. The papers as a whole establish it for the government. The affidavit for the warrant showed sufficient information from observations for an inference that drugs were being … Continue reading
CA6: Individual officer not responsible for process that denied ptf prompt PC hearing under Riverside
While an arrested person has a right to a prompt judicial determination of probable cause for the arrest, it’s not necessarily on the officer to get the person before a magistrate. “[I]t was not objectively unreasonable for Wynkoop to expect … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Emailing SW materials subject to protective order results in contempt conviction
Defendant’s emailing a reporter search warrant materials subject to a protective order results in his conviction for contempt. Defendant understood the order, and only defense counsel was able to use the materials, not him. He was later pro se but … Continue reading
MS: Judicial notice proper that SW execution at 11 pm is not during daylight hours
A court can take judicial notice that execution of a search warrant at 11 pm is not during daylight hours in Mississippi. Doe v. Doe, 2021 Miss. App. LEXIS 473 (Nov. 9, 2021) (only recognizing rule; this is not a … Continue reading
Intercept: School Officials Welcome Homeland Security Surveillance After Student Fights
Intercept: School Officials Welcome Homeland Security Surveillance After Student Fights (“Administrators in Prince George’s County say they wanted help monitoring school safety — but sweeping surveillance could land kids in gang databases and families in deportation proceedings.”)
techdirt: Institute For Justice Survey Shows How Philadelphia’s Forfeiture Program Preyed On Poor Minorities
techdirt: Institute For Justice Survey Shows How Philadelphia’s Forfeiture Program Preyed On Poor Minorities (“The Institute for Justice managed to kill off most of Philadelphia’s severely abused civil forfeiture program in 2018. Litigation resulted in a consent decree that banned law enforcement from seizing … Continue reading
Reason: SCOTUS Has Made It Practically Impossible To Sue a Rights-Violating Federal Officer
Reason: SCOTUS Has Made It Practically Impossible To Sue a Rights-Violating Federal Officer by Damon Root (“Several recent Supreme Court decisions have made it practically impossible to sue a federal officer over alleged violations of constitutional rights. Now the Court … Continue reading
IN: Knock-and-talk not barred by Jardines
DNA from a cold case murder was sent to a DNA genealogy company who tentatively matched defendant to the crime. Police did a trash pull and got more of a DNA match. Then they got a search warrant for his … Continue reading
WA: HIPAA violation in seizing medical records by SW required their return
The trial court’s order denying return of patient records taken by search warrant from the petitioner youth services provider failed to comply with HIPAA requirements should have been granted. While the records have been returned and the case is otherwise … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Modified civil investigative demand wasn’t shown to be unreasonable
The petitioner doesn’t show that the civil investigative demand in a fraud case was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment or that it could not reach accommodation with the government. In re Civil Investigative Demand No. 21mc24 WJ/SCY, 2021 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading