Archives
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Recent Posts
- C.D.Cal.: A Gerstein/McLaughlin violation for delayed first appearance requires a showing of prejudice
- CA11: Franks motion properly denied for lack of an offer of proof
- Cal.L.Rev.: Your Robotaxi Is Watching You. Does the Fourth Amendment Care?
- 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
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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)
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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
CA7: Unreasonable administrative delay in releasing pretrial detainees entitled to release violates 4A
Unreasonable administrative delay in getting people out of jail that are entitled to it violates the Fourth Amendment under Gerstein and County of Riverside. Williams v. Dart, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 23132 (7th Cir. July 23, 2020):
CA9: Police following a blood trail onto curtilage after recent crime was exigency
The district court concluded defendant had no standing to challenge a tribal police search of the curtilage of his grandmother’s house where he was an overnight guest. Assuming, without deciding, he has standing, there was clear and obvious exigency for … Continue reading
D.Haw.: 4A IAC requires showing standing, too
Defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim for a search issue has to show that he had standing to even make the Fourth Amendment challenge, which he doesn’t. It’s an integral part of the merits claim. United States v. Scher, 2020 … Continue reading
IA: Answering statement officer was coming in with a question was acquiescence
The state conceded that hot pursuit didn’t justify their entry and relied on consent. “Nor could Boley’s act of letting the officers in be construed as consent. When the officer said she would be coming in, Boley responded with a … Continue reading
Slate: Customs and Border Protection Can Track Cars Nationwide Via Commercial Database
Slate: Customs and Border Protection Can Track Cars Nationwide Via Commercial Database by Hannah Klein (“It turns out that U.S. Customs and Border Protection could now keep an eye on your car without even getting a warrant. This month, we … Continue reading
Law and Crime: Two DHS Officials Apparently Just Admitted Their Troops Have Been Violating the Constitution
Law and Crime: Two DHS Officials Apparently Just Admitted Their Troops Have Been Violating the Constitution by Colin Kalmbacher (“Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf and one of his subordinates appear to have admitted their agents have … Continue reading
VA: 4A claim waived by not getting ruling below
Defendant waived his Fourth Amendment claim by not getting a ruling on the issue in the trial court. Spencer v. Commonwealth, 2020 Va. App. LEXIS 206 (July 21, 2020). Defendant lost his search claim in the district court and on … Continue reading
CA9: 4A issues in “travel ban” case: expungement of records unconstitutionally obtained is a remedy
“Addressing plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment search claims, the panel first held that the expungement relief sought by plaintiffs — the expungement of all records unconstitutionally obtained and maintained — was available under the Constitution to remedy the alleged constitutional violations. Because … Continue reading
CA6: Def showed no REP in package with a fake name sent to his house
Defendant showed no reasonable expectation of privacy in a package addressed to a fake name at his address. United States v. James, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 22766 (6th Cir. July 21, 2020). Defendant failed to show that the challenged statements … Continue reading
CA6: Camera in fake smoke detector outside def’s door in apt building hallway violated no REP
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in images captured by a camera warrantlessly placed in a fake smoke detector on the ceiling of his apartment building hallway right outside his door. United States v. Trice, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA8: Mistake of name in SW affidavit deleted by district court wasn’t material
The affidavit for search warrant here originally used the name “Aaren” but the officer found “Taylor” could be the last name, and the affidavit was changed for that. It turned out that there were two people. The district court properly … Continue reading
PA: State waived challenge to def’s reliance on state constitution
The state waived its challenge to the defendant’s reliance on the state constitution by failure to litigate it below. Waiver claims have to be applied evenhandedly between the state and defendants. Commonwealth v. Wolfel, 2020 Pa. LEXIS 3797 (July 21, … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Def’s arrest at door in underwear permitted protective sweep before getting his clothes
Defendant was arrested in his house on a cold and dreary day. He answered the door in his underwear. Officers were permitted to conduct a protective sweep before getting his clothing for transport because at least one other person expected … Continue reading
Rolling Stone: How Oregon Is Pushing Back Against ‘Kidnap and False Arrest’ by Trump’s Agents
Rolling Stone: How Oregon Is Pushing Back Against ‘Kidnap and False Arrest’ by Trump’s Agents by Tim Dickinson (“As state decries constitutional abuses by federal officers, Trump threatens to impose tactics nationally”)
N.D.Fla.: Drug officers with PC can use patrol officers to make a stop on a traffic offense
Drug officers had probable cause but used patrol officers to make a stop based on a traffic offense, which there also was. The initial probable cause controls here. United States v. Green, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126663 (N.D. Fla. July … Continue reading
CA7: “The Fourth Amendment does not require best practices in criminal investigations.” Just PC
“The Fourth Amendment does not require best practices in criminal investigations.” That a controlled buy could have been done better doesn’t mean there wasn’t probable cause. United States v. Glenn, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 22544 (7th Cir. July 20, 2020):
CA10: USDC isn’t obligated to draw same Franks inferences the def does
When a defendant makes a Franks challenge, the court is not obliged to make the same inference he makes in determining whether he gets a hearing. Franks requires a “substantial preliminary showing” of recklessness or acting intentionally along with materiality. … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Tower dump order different than long term CSLI; § 2703 order suffices under Carpenter
“In light of the significant differences between a tower dump CLSI and long term CSLI targeted at the whole of an individual’s movements, as highlighted by the court’s decision in Carpenter, the court finds no basis for attaching a Fourth … Continue reading
D.Idaho: Broad email warrants are not per se unreasonable
Broad email search warrants were not unreasonable just because they were broad. The breadth of the financial crime under investigation justifies it. In addition, the good faith exception applies and it’s too early to tell if any has to be … Continue reading
techdirt: The FBI Is Abusing The All Writs Act To Gain Access To Millions Of Travel Records
techdirt: The FBI Is Abusing The All Writs Act To Gain Access To Millions Of Travel Records by Tim Cushing: