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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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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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
D.Md.: Even with MJ decrim, smell of MJ from a vehicle is still PC by statute and state case law
According to the state courts and statute, the smell of marijuana from a van was still probable cause in Maryland despite decriminalization. The search of the vehicle and a backpack within was thus lawful. United States v. Palacio, 2019 U.S. … Continue reading
HI: Officer was aware house had two living units; SW didn’t specify which and search suppressed
The officer obtaining the search warrant was aware that there were two separate units in this dwelling, an upstairs and a downstairs. He also knew there were stairs and separate entrances. The upstairs was one color, and the downstairs another. … Continue reading
ND: Emergency entry into on-duty police officer’s home was reasonable when he didn’t come back from extended lunch break and patrol car was outside running and he didn’t answer radio, phone, or door
Defendant was a police officer who sought and was allowed a two hour lunch break. When he didn’t come back from lunch and he didn’t answer his radio or cell phone, the department dispatched another officer to his house. Outside, … Continue reading
D.N.M.: A SW for CP doesn’t need to be limited to only devices on the premises police think were used; all can be searched
In a search warrant for child pornography, the warrant does not have to attempt to be limited to the only devices that the officers think downloaded the images; all devices on the premises can be searched, following codefendant’s case, United … Continue reading
Bloomberg Law: New Appeals Test for Medical Prescription Warrantless Searches
Bloomberg Law: New Appeals Test for Medical Prescription Warrantless Searches by John Nancarrow (“A federal appeals court could rule anytime on whether law enforcement needs a warrant to access information on people’s prescription drug use from state databases—a case that’s … Continue reading
M.D.N.C.: The conduct of the men here was apparently innocent, and nothing made it even rise to RS [as low a standard as that is]
Three men standing by a car wasn’t reasonable suspicion. The court analyzes each factor [not the “divide and conquer” attitude to be avoided] and finds it wanting and ultimately just a hunch. Then, the court considers the totality of circumstance, … Continue reading
OH6: Flawed justification for ordering def out of vehicle wasn’t prejudicial where Mimms allowed it in any event
“Nevertheless, while the officers may have been mistaken in their belief that a search of the vehicle could be performed absent a custodial arrest, their flawed justification for ordering the occupants out of the vehicle was not prejudicial here. This … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: On a video that’s integral to the PC, the reliability of the time stamp isn’t to be inquired into or it becomes a “hypertechnical” review
Defendant was on a surveillance video 33 days before a search warrant was sought for the weapon since he was a felon. The warrant was not stale because people almost always keep firearms for a long time. Defendant’s challenge to … Continue reading
Reason: It’s Bill of Rights Day. Do Americans Still Care?
Reason: It’s Bill of Rights Day. Do Americans Still Care? by J.D. Tuccille (“The greatest threat to protections for our freedom may be people’s fear that people who disagree with them are exercising their rights.”)
Ars Technica: Feds reap data from 1,500 phones in largest reported reverse-location warrant
Ars Technica: Feds reap data from 1,500 phones in largest reported reverse-location warrant by Kate Cox (“The search warrants demanded nine hours’ worth of location history from Google.”):
D.Neb.: Def was being tailed on a DEA tip; a traffic stop ripened to RS
Defendant’s car was being followed on a tip from the DEA that he was transporting drugs. When the officer pulled him over for a traffic offense, the officer noticed air freshener sprinkled on the floor of a clean and new … Continue reading
Cal.1: Refusing entry to home for police to investigate gunshots outside wasn’t exigency
Gunshots were fired outside a defendant’s home. The police showed up, and he refused entry. They couldn’t use the excuse that somebody inside might need aid. People v. Rubio, 2019 Cal. App. LEXIS 1245 (1st Dist. Dec. 13, 2019):
E.D.Tex.: Officer who knew def’s LPN was expired didn’t have to look again before calling it in the next time he saw the car
The officer knew a week earlier that defendant’s LPN was expired. He saw defendant and called it in without looking, and it came back expired. That was still probable cause and justification for a stop, and looking again wasn’t required. … Continue reading
Two on plain view
The officer approached a parked car that a known felon was in, and he saw a gun. “Once Buchanan saw the firearm located on the floor in the rear passenger area where a known felon had just been sitting, he … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Broad SW for cell phone photos was reasonable because of how they’re stored
A broad search warrant for photographs on a cell phone was reasonable because that’s the only way the photos can be searched. In addition, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Hawkins, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 214030 (E.D. Mich. … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Reasonable fear def was burning stolen mail was sufficient for officers to approach burn pit
Officers had probable cause for defendant, a part time postal worker, for stealing mail, and they surveilled his house and property. They saw a fire in burn pit, and they were concerned it was stolen mail, so they entered. They … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Informant hearsay here was adequately corroborated to be found reliable
The informant hearsay here was sufficiently corroborated. “The affidavit provides sufficient grounds to assess the veracity and basis of knowledge of CS1’s information. Most of CS1’s information is based on personal observations of Goodman. Those observations, including Goodman’s involvement with … Continue reading
WY: Def’s contradictions of travel compared to car rental agreement and lies about criminal history was RS
Defendant was stopped for following too close in a rental car. It was reasonable for the trooper to suspect defendant rented the car to transport drugs because there were obvious contradictions between the car rental agreement and his travel plans, … Continue reading
Livingston Ledger: FBI allegedly paid Geek Squad technicians as ‘confidential human sources’ in child porn case
Livingston Ledger: FBI allegedly paid Geek Squad technicians as ‘confidential human sources’ in child porn case: