Archives
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- 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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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
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
TN: Payton permitted entry to execute arrest warrant on motel room
Officers reasonably believed defendant was in a motel room, and an arrest warrant permitted entry under Payton. The observations from that went to getting a search warrant for the room. State v. Brandon, 2020 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 5 (Jan. … Continue reading
D.C.App. discusses “automatic companion” rule but concludes it doesn’t apply
The D.C. Court of Appeals discusses the scope of the automatic companion rule and finds that it doesn’t have to decide that issue here. There was reasonable suspicion for the companion’s patdown. Jenkins v. District of Columbia, 2020 D.C. App. … Continue reading
CA9: 4A standing isn’t jurisdictional, so it doesn’t have to be decided
Standing for Fourth Amendment purposes is not jurisdictional, so the court can consider the merits instead. United States v. Spadafore, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 2922 (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2020). The legality of the search warrant for defendant’s car is … Continue reading
CA11: 49 days for presentment to a USMJ after arrest on the high seas of a foreign national wasn’t unreasonable
“In this drug trafficking case under the MDLEA, we too must follow Verdugo-Urquidez and conclude that defendant Guagua-Alarcon, who is a non U.S. citizen and non-U.S. resident, and who has no significant connection to the United States, cannot challenge under … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Issues over the territorial jurisdiction of state issuing magistrate for geolocation information was subject to GFE
Defendants’ challenges to the state issuing magistrate’s jurisdiction over geolocation information that crosses jurisdictional lines were based on a Franks challenge that was negligence at worst and not an intentional misrepresentation as to the judge’s jurisdiction. Besides, as interesting as … Continue reading
D.Neb.: The detail of a 911 call and corroboration of significant parts provided RS for a stop under Naverette
The detail of a 911 call and corroboration of significant parts provided reasonable suspicion for a stop under Naverette. United States v. Dan, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14906 (D. Neb. Jan. 13, 2020):
MI: Civil discovery must comply with the 4A; here a cell phone search
Civil discovery must comply with the Fourth Amendment. Here, there was an order to turn over a cell phone for forensic evaluation, and it was essentially based on probable cause. Attorney-client privilege must also be protected. Martin v. Martin, 2020 … Continue reading
The Post and Courier: Charleston police disproportionately pull over black drivers. Here’s the plan to fix it.
The Post and Courier: Charleston police disproportionately pull over black drivers. Here’s the plan to fix it. by Gregory Yee (“After years of concerns aired by members of the African American community, Charleston officials approved a racial bias audit of … Continue reading
CA6: “Detention in a police car does not automatically constitute an arrest”
“Detention in a police car does not automatically constitute an arrest,” and it depends on all the facts and circumstances. [Officers do that for safety reasons since the detainee is locked in the back seat.] United States v. Bonner, 2020 … Continue reading
S.D.Miss.: Preindictment suppression governed by equitable standards, and GFE still applies
Plaintiff seeks preindictment suppression of evidence and return of evidence of illegal employment of undocumented workers. Preindictment suppression is based on equitable grounds. In the face of the good faith exception, Koch Foods can’t show that it does not apply … Continue reading
CA11: Pro se litigant doesn’t sufficiently allege issuing magistrate wasn’t “neutral and detached”
Pro se prisoner’s complaint against the search warrant process in Georgia fails for a multitude of reasons and is legally frivolous. State law on search warrant does not conflict with federal law and he doesn’t sufficiently allege that the issuing … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Possession of a firearm is an ongoing offense, and passage of time alone doesn’t make it stale
Possession of a firearm is an ongoing offense, and passage of time alone doesn’t make it stale. United States v. Morelock, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225737 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 9, 2019), adopted, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12596 (N.D. Ga. Jan. … Continue reading
MA: Def’s frisk during his traffic stop was unjustified and unreasonable
The granting of defendant’s motion to suppress is affirmed. Although the stop of his vehicle was proper, his frisk was improper as was the search of his car which was based on the results of the improper frisk. Defendant’s actions … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: In a 3 page affidavit for SW, showing the crimes under investigation was particular enough
The affidavits for search warrant are only three pages long, and they reference the crimes under investigation on page one or the first paragraph. That is enough here to show particularity. “The Court concludes that the fact that these brief … Continue reading
EFF: New Bill Would Make Needed Steps Toward Curbing Mass Surveillance
EFF: New Bill Would Make Needed Steps Toward Curbing Mass Surveillance by India McKinney & Andrew Crocker (“The Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act is a Strong Bill That Builds on Previous Surveillance Reforms”)
D.Me.: It wasn’t unreasonable for the officer to delay def’s arrest until they moved to where another officer was for safety
It wasn’t unreasonable for the officer to forgo defendant’s arrest and get him to walk with the officer to the house where another officer was waiting. This was for safety purposes. United States v. Brigley, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13938 … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Explicit collective detail of three CIs was probable cause
The explicit collective detail of the three informants was probable cause. United States v. Morelock, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 225737 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 9, 2019), adopted, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12596 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 27, 2020)*:
CA2: CI’s reliability supported because he also testified under oath before warrant issued
“[The CI’s] reliability is further supported by the fact that he ‘testified under threat of the criminal sanction for perjury,’ and that his eye-witness report of the crime was incredibly detailed.” United States v. Martin, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 2738 … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: For purposes of entry on an arrest warrant, officers can reasonably believe def had two addresses
“Under the facts of this case, the Court concludes that law enforcement agents had the requisite reasonable belief that Sparks was residing at 6825 Walrond Avenue and/or 5501 Smart Avenue and was present at the addresses at the time of … Continue reading
CA8: Judge authorizing rubberstamp of signature by clerk after PC for arrest found not 4A violation
“Hamilton’s complaint alleged that Judge Ragland is liable in damages for his unconstitutional actions in allowing [clerk] Overbey to issue arrest warrants and set bonds using his signature stamp, and in setting a schedule requiring cash-only bonds without regard to … Continue reading