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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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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)
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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
UT: DNA SW can be executed by force; def has burden of showing unreasonable force was used to execute a DNA warrant on his person
A search warrant was issued for defendant’s DNA, and he resisted efforts to take it by buccal swab. He doesn’t challenge the probable cause, only the method of execution. He carries the burden of proof on the question of unreasonableness … Continue reading
WI: Resident called 911 because of blood in garage; search that found body was reasonable under emergency aid exception
Another resident of the home called 911 because of a large amount of blood in the garage. They arrived and looked for the source, finding a body. Defendant was ultimately arrested. Although Caniglia v. Strom was decided after the briefs … Continue reading
Engadget: The Treasury Department is buying sensitive app data for investigations
Engadget: The Treasury Department is buying sensitive app data for investigations by Jon Fingas (“There are concerns investigators are bypassing due process” and the Fourth Amendment. This isn’t new information.)
W.D.N.Y.: That DNA should have been expunged and wasn’t doesn’t mandate suppression under 4A
DNA that should have been expunged and wasn’t isn’t subject to suppression under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Green, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 212916 (W.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2021):
W.D.N.Y.: Failure to preserve a recording of issuance of a SW required by NY law is not a 4A issue
Failure to preserve a recording of issuance of a search warrant as required by New York law is not a Fourth Amendment issue. United States v. Bailey, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 212869 (W.D.N.Y. Nov. 3, 2021). “Recognizing that this case … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Status as “protector” of home although not occupant or guest not enough for standing
Defendant’s creative argument that he was a “protector” of the home although he wasn’t the owner or occupant and was only an occasional guest is rejected for the day in question. “Royal argues that he had a reasonable expectation of … Continue reading
GA: Probationer was unreasonably detained as suspect in a crime where he didn’t match
The state failed in its burden of proof that defendant was lawfully stopped and then detained as a possible suspect in a crime even though he was a probationer. His clothing didn’t match. It was prolonged way past its justification. … Continue reading
LATimes: L.A. sheriff’s deputies use minor stops to search bicyclists, with Latinos hit hardest
LATimes: L.A. sheriff’s deputies use minor stops to search bicyclists, with Latinos hit hardest by Alene Tchekmedyian, Ben Poston and Julia Barajas (“The Times’ analysis of more than 44,000 bike stops logged by the Sheriff’s Department since 2017 found that … Continue reading
SCOTUS grant: Bivens and excessive force
Egbert v. Boule, 21-147 (granted Nov. 5, 2021): Issues: (1) Whether a cause of action exists under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics for First Amendment retaliation claims; and (2) whether a cause of action … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Laptop computer left in the former marital home for a decade is abandoned
A laptop computer left in the former marital home for a decade is abandoned property. United States v. Hartley, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 212137 (E.D.Mich. Nov. 3, 2021). Petitioner seeks to bring five claims in a successor habeas petition, and … Continue reading
CA1: On a Franks claim based on omissions, add them in and retest for PC
With a Franks claim based on omissions, the court can consider the omissions and, if probable cause remains, the motion to suppress is denied. United States v. Leonard, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 32740 (1st Cir. Nov. 3, 2021). “Here, viewing … Continue reading
IA: No REP in attorney call from interrogation room
Defendant’s in-custody call to his attorney was overheard by the recording system in the room. There was no reasonable expectation of privacy where it was made. Luthi v. Neis, 2021 Iowa App. LEXIS 930 (Nov. 3, 2021). The trial court … Continue reading
PA: Def driving from Delaware to Philly for cheesesteaks when he was broke added to RS
Driving from Delaware to Philadelphia to get cheesesteaks while the driver professing he can’t afford a speeding ticket with a few other “dubious” comments leads to reasonable suspicion to continue the stop. The trial court erred in suppressing. Commonwealth v. … Continue reading
CA9 & OR: Merely citing 4A without substantive argument is waiver
“Plaintiffs forfeited their Fourth Amendment qualified immunity arguments because the opening brief makes no legal argument that qualified immunity does not apply, nor is such an argument apparent from Plaintiffs’ factual recitation.” Ramirez v. Zimmerman, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 32726 … Continue reading
NJ: Flagrant knock-and-announce violation requires suppression under state constitution
A flagrant violation of the knock-and-announce rule violates the state constitution and the result is excluded. Violating the knock-and-announce requirement makes the search warrantless. The court recognizes the Fourth Amendment rule is contra. State v. Caronna, 2021 N.J. Super. LEXIS … Continue reading
Lawfare: The Impact of Carpenter v. United States in the Lower Courts and the Emerging Carpenter Test
Lawfare: The Impact of Carpenter v. United States in the Lower Courts and the Emerging Carpenter Test by Matthew Tokson:
D.Mont.: “‘Humpty Dumpty’ rule of meaning” of exigency?
Police entry for a drug overdose is an exigency. United States v. Van Pelt, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 211734 (D.Mont. Nov. 2, 2021). And there’s this:
AR: Knock on door during visit to ask about a missing person lawfully resulted in plain view of blood spot on porch
While looking for a missing person with connection to defendant, police went to his place to talk to him. The officer knocked on his door but got no answer. As he turned to leave, he saw a spot of blood … Continue reading
CA9: State’s seeking CSLI with PC but under wrong statute not 4A violation
Probable cause was shown for CSLI before the state judge, but the state sought the order under the wrong statute. That doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Fregia, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 32587 (9th Cir. Nov. 2, 2021). … Continue reading