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- LATimes: Ex-L.A. County sheriff’s deputy gets prison time for using search warrant for a private client
- Privacy Daily: Chatrie’s Clarification to Fourth Amendment a Win for Privacy, Experts Say
- D.Alaska: Def’s half hour detention was without RS
- CA9: When the PC for SW dissipates, the search must stop; no GFE
- C.D.Cal.: SW for all software in gambling case was overbroad and no GFE
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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)
--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
N.D.N.Y.: Def’s immigration arrest was unreasonable and the product is suppressed
Defendant’s immigration arrest was unreasonable and the product is suppressed. United States v. Juarez-Lopez, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 269401 (N.D.N.Y. Dec. 18, 2025)*:
D.S.C.: Alleged unauthorized officers executing SW under state law not a 4A violation
Plaintiff’s claim unauthorized officers executed the search warrant under state law isn’t a Fourth Amendment violation. Richard v. Jeffcoat, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1512 (D.S.C. Jan. 5, 2026). Based on the search warrant, “The government may not disclose [at trial] … Continue reading
WI: Interlock device from 2008 BAC refusal proper civil penalty
Refusal of a BAC can legitimately have civil consequences without violating the Fourth Amendment per Birchfield. Here it was a 2008 refusal that led to an interlock in 2013 that was recently violated. State v. Sparby-Duncan, 2026 Wisc. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA9: In school seizure of plaintiff’s cell phone for 30 minutes was not unreasonable
In school seizure of plaintiff’s cell phone for 30 minutes was not unreasonable and “not excessively intrusive.” McGuire v. Roseville Joint Union High Sch. Dist., 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 172 (9th Cir. Jan. 6, 2026). “Valdivia counters that [the officer’s] … Continue reading
CA10: A search incident to arrest isn’t valid when there’s no arrest
A search incident to arrest isn’t valid when there’s no arrest. The law is clearly established, so no qualified immunity. Montgomery v. Cruz, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 161 (10th Cir. Jan. 6, 2026). The defense succeeded in a Franks challenge … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Notebook of passwords was within the scope of a CSAM warrant
During a child pornography warranted search, officers found a notebook of passwords, and it was within the scope of the warrant. United States v. Lira-Prado, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 982 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 5, 2026). One child pornography warrant led … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Defense can’t use SCA to get emails, even if they’re exculpatory
Only a governmental entity gets to use the Stored Communications Act to get emails. The defense can’t do it seeking even alleged exculpatory emails. Perry v. Silverthon, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 828 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 5, 2026). “Single-incident liability ‘is … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Investigative medical exams implicate 4A
“The Fourth Amendment is implicated when medical examinations are undertaken at the initiative of a state official for an investigatory purpose. See Tenenbaum v. Williams, 193 F.3d 581, 606 (2d Cir. 1999) (holding that the Fourth Amendment applies to ‘searches … Continue reading
OH5: Ohio recognizes Groh incorporation by reference for particularity
Ohio recognizes Groh incorporation by reference for particularity. State v. Starcher, 2026-Ohio-15, 2026 Ohio App. LEXIS 11 (5th Dist. Jan. 6, 2026). In a civil case, the reference to Fourth Amendment was a typo for Fourteenth. It will be considered … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Someone doesn’t have to be home to execute a SW
It isn’t a proper Fourth Amendment challenge for a warrant not to be executed because no one is home. Rodriguez-Ferreira v. Sweeney, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 560 (D.N.J. Jan. 5, 2026). Defense counsel objected to the search warrant twice on … Continue reading
WSJ: How Judges Are Using AI to Help Decide Your Legal Dispute
WSJ: How Judges Are Using AI to Help Decide Your Legal Dispute by Erin Mulvaney (“The technology is helping summarize legal filings, prepare for hearings and map out decisions”):
TN: Not objecting to SW affidavit at trial here not IAC; it fit defense theory
Defense counsel didn’t object to the search warrant and application coming into evidence in the state’s case because it fit within the defense theory, despite being full of hearsay, assuming defendant would testify, as he said he would. Then he … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Five prior surveilled deliveries led to anticipatory warrant
Five packages from Puerto Rico arrived at defendant’s apartment building for fictitious tenants in 303 and 404. After they were left in the alcove, defendant was seen to remove them to his apartment, 901. The sixth package had a positive … Continue reading
CA7: 911 call about DV in progress in house was exigency for entry
“Here we conclude that, based on the undisputed facts, the officers had an objectively reasonable basis to believe that someone in Cannon’s home needed immediate aid and that there was a compelling need to enter without a warrant. The officers … Continue reading
WaPo: U.S. capture of Maduro may be illegal; that likely won’t matter in court
WaPo: U.S. capture of Maduro may be illegal; that likely won’t matter in court by Perry Steinand Shayna Jacobs:
CA10: Nexus subject to GFE
The charge was impersonating an FBI agent at a school student pickup line. A warrant was issued for defendant’s house and computers to see if he bought faux FBI paraphernalia online.* The district court suppressed for lack of nexus. Reversed; … Continue reading
MA: Facebook selfie supported SW for def’s cell phone
A Facebook photo that appeared to be a selfie on defendant’s Facebook account wearing the shirt witnesses to the shooting describe supported a search warrant for defendant’s cell phone. Commonwealth v. Carleton, 2026 Mass. LEXIS 1 (Jan. 5, 2026). Plaintiff … Continue reading
CA6: 4A doesn’t impose a “shot clock” on staleness
A three-week-old controlled buy was part of the probable cause. The Fourth Amendment doesn’t impose a “shot clock” on staleness. Nexus was clear: “The nexus in this case, by contrast, left nothing to the imagination.” Police used pole camera surveillance … Continue reading
D.N.H.: Late disclosed SW application doesn’t show “actual innocence”; “legal innocence” is different
Petitioner obtained his search warrant application years after he was convicted. His habeas is denied. He claims it shows he was actually innocent, but this is only potential legal innocence, not actual innocence, and there’s a difference. Davis v. Warden, … Continue reading