Archives
-
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
-
Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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)
-
“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
OH5: Staleness argument fails as to ongoing MJ grow operation
Information about a marijuana grow operation was ongoing by its nature, so staleness is more flexible as to it and information can be older. Also, the good faith exception would apply. State v. Laubacher, 2019-Ohio-4271, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 4343 … Continue reading
TX10: The search and seizure issue in the trial court needs to be the same as the one presented on appeal or it’s waived
The search and seizure issue in the trial court needs to be the same as the one presented on appeal or it’s waived. “Villareal’s complaint on appeal that the trial court erred in denying Villareal’s motion to suppress as to … Continue reading
IL: Merely radioing for a drug dog did not materially extend a stop that was only 3 minutes long
This case is on post-conviction, and defendant attached a police report to his petition. Based on the police report, the mere act of radioing for a drug dog did not appreciably extend the stop which took three minutes. People v. … Continue reading
CA6: Codef’s appeal from same suppression hearing already affirmed, so that’s law of the case [even though he didn’t get to brief it, so how fair is that?]
The codefendant’s appeal on the same grounds, from the same suppression hearing was affirmed in July. That’s law of the case as to this defendant. United States v. Thompson, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 30910 (6th Cir. Oct. 16, 2019). “Carter … Continue reading
OH: On LPN check, car not matching color on registration is enough for a stop to see if it’s stolen
“When an officer encounters a vehicle the whole of which is painted a different color from the color listed in the vehicle-registration records and the officer believes, based on his experience, that the vehicle or its displayed license plates may … Continue reading
Just Security: A Fourth Amendment Framework for Voiceprint Database Searches
Just Security: A Fourth Amendment Framework for Voiceprint Database Searches by Cassandra Deskus & Joshua R. Fattal:
CA11: PC or not, the warrantless entry to arrest ptf violated the 4A
The parties got into an argument, and plaintiff went back into his house. The defendant came in after him. “Without deciding whether Bailey’s arrest was supported by probable cause—or, as it goes in the qualified-immunity context, ‘arguable probable cause’—we reverse. … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: One officer can swear to an affidavit prepared by another under the 4A
The fact one officer swore to an affidavit prepared by another on the other’s knowledge is not a constitutional violation. Moreover, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Parrish, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178155 (N.D. W.Va. Oct. 15, 2019). … Continue reading
WA: Breath for BAC is not subject to search incident doctrine
Defendant was arrested for another reason, and police did a search incident of his breath for DUI. That’s not a proper purpose. City of Vancouver v. Kaufman, 2019 Wash. App. LEXIS 2616 (Oct. 15, 2019). The search warrant appears based … Continue reading
Philadelphia Inquirer: As Philadelphia aims to curb racial disparities, why are police stops of black drivers skyrocketing?
Philadelphia Inquirer: As Philadelphia aims to curb racial disparities, why are police stops of black drivers skyrocketing? by Samantha Melamed (“Although Philadelphia police and civil rights lawyers have been monitoring pedestrian stops and frisks since 2011 — when they entered … Continue reading
WaPo: Her tampon was pulled out in public by a police officer looking for drugs. Now, she could get $205,000.
WaPo: Her tampon was pulled out in public by a police officer looking for drugs. Now, she could get $205,000. By Allyson Chiu:
Just Security: The FISA Court’s Section 702 Opinions, Part II: Improper Queries and Echoes of “Bulk Collection”
Just Security: The FISA Court’s Section 702 Opinions, Part II: Improper Queries and Echoes of “Bulk Collection” by Elizabeth Goitein:
NYTimes: Opinion: You’re in a Police Lineup, Right Now
NYTimes: Opinion: You’re in a Police Lineup, Right Now (“Face-recognition technology is the new norm. You may think, ‘I’ve got nothing to hide,’ but we all should be concerned.”).
NC: CSLI violation was attenuated because it only helped locate him and then there was a SW in another state
Defendant’s offense was in 2005 and he was originally tried in 2011 and reversed that conviction. On retrial, he filed a motion to suppress a pen register used to locate him in Colorado. CSLI without a warrant was permitted in … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Court doesn’t believe officer on inventory as a justification, but impoundment of the vehicle would have happened anyway
“Defendant David Arnold was arrested for and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon after the Detroit police found a stolen handgun in the glovebox of the car he was driving. The police stopped the car because the … Continue reading
Just Security: The FISA Court’s 702 Opinions, Part I: A History of Non-Compliance Repeats Itself
Just Security: The FISA Court’s 702 Opinions, Part I: A History of Non-Compliance Repeats Itself by Elizabeth Goitein:
N.D.Cal.: Search of car violated Rodriguez and product of that search led to suppression of SW for house
Defendant’s stop was unreasonably prolonged and violated Rodriguez. The product of that search was used to get a search warrant for the house. The search of the house is suppressed, too. United States v. Maffei, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177755 … Continue reading
MN: A white cloth sought in a SW for evidence of sexual assault permitted seizure of a blue and white one
Defendant was accused of sexual assault, and a “white dish towel-like cloth” was likely a source of DNA evidence. A search warrant was obtained. Executing the warrant, officers saw a blue and white dish-towel-like cloth. The trial court suppressed it. … Continue reading
The Nation: Google Is Coming for Your Face
The Nation: Google Is Coming for Your Face (“Personal data is routinely harvested from the most vulnerable populations, without transparency, regulation, or principles—and this should concern us all.”)