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- Reason: Miami Sheriff Hired a Private Law Firm To Pursue—and Profit From—Asset Forfeiture Cases
- D.Conn.: Pole camera on def’s house and curtilage didn’t show inside house, so it’s reasonable
- OH12: Officer’s violation of knock-and-announce statute justifies suppression
- Reason: Documents Reveal the Postal Service’s Broad Surveillance of Political Activists
- CA4: Not having child in a booster seat justified stop
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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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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)
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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
KY: License plate reader alert justified stop
A license plate reader told the officer that defendant’s car insurance needed to be verified because it was not on file, and that was a reasonable basis for the stop. Lynem v. Commonwealth, 2018 Ky. App. LEXIS 299 (Dec. 7, … Continue reading
KS: Smell of MJ at def’s door was PC it was inside; protective sweep valid
The smell of marijuana at defendant’s door was probable cause there was marijuana inside, and that justified a protective sweep to secure the premises pending getting a warrant. State v. Hubbard, 2018 Kan. LEXIS 592 (Dec. 7, 2018):
D.Ore.: Where the detention was with RS, the fact it took an hour to get a free drug dog there wasn’t unreasonable
The officer had reasonable suspicion for detention for the dog sniff. Then it took an hour to get a drug dog there because the police were busy that night. It was not unreasonable on the totality. United States v. Krumwiede, … Continue reading
OH6: Not having a full suppression hearing and limiting issues was sound strategy
Defense counsel’s strategy was to attack probable cause, and a full suppression hearing was to be avoided, because that would surely lose. That was sound strategy at the time. State v. Nettles, 2018-Ohio-4908, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 5237 (6th Dist. … Continue reading
DE: No REP in shared Facebook photos
“Moreover, Harris’ contention that his public Facebook photos were ‘illegally seized’ has no merit.” There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a shared social media post. Harris v. State, 2018 Del. LEXIS 540 (Dec. 3, 2018). Defendant argued that … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: In a document search, a slight overseizure that the govt declines to use avoids extraordinary remedy of suppression
“In sum, the affidavits set forth detailed information concerning the evidence of insider trading obtained and the connection between the devices and accounts concerned and probable additional evidence. The warrants were particularized and their breadth tied to the evidence relevant … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Failure to challenge CSLI before Carpenter wasn’t IAC
Defendant’s verdict was the day Carpenter was decided, and his defense lawyer hadn’t challenged the CSLI before that. Defense lawyers don’t have to forecast changes in the law. “ Even following Carpenter, the Second Circuit has declined to suppress cell … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Protective sweep of small apt loft was valid
A protective sweep of even a small apartment’s loft and closet is valid. Plain view sustained. United States v. Green, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206238 (S.D. N.Y. Dec. 6, 2018).* The search issue is not dispositive of the case because … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: CI on the controlled buy wasn’t an “active participant” in the crime
The CI’s participation in the controlled buy that led to a search warrant doesn’t make the CI an “active participant” in the crime where that’s only the basis for issuance of the warrant and it’s not a separate charge. United … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Def’s 4A IAC claim fails because he can’t show he’d prevail on merits of search
Defendant can’t show that his Fourth Amendment claim would have succeeded on the seizure of evidence from a car for IAC purposes. “Here, Miller, having focused almost exclusively on standing to the exclusion of the remainder of his burden, cannot … Continue reading
LA: False statement in affidavit passed from another officer was harmless on PC question
The statement the officer used in the affidavit came from another officer. At worst it was negligent and not an intentional misrepresentation. No matter what, however, it doesn’t undermine the probable cause, so the motion was properly denied. State v. … Continue reading
MN: Drunk sleeping man who’d just threatened woman with gun could be frisked for weapon under emergency exception, but not Terry
Defendant was drunk in a house allegedly threatening a woman and her infant child with a gun. He passed out. She called the police. The police entered, and defendant was asleep on the couch. They patted him down for a … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Bank robbery suspect who fled car after PIT maneuver stopped it abandoned it
“After looking at the collective knowledge of law enforcement at the time of the arrest—which includes four eyewitness identifications, one voice identification, and a tip from the defendant’s own girlfriend turning him in for the People’s Bank robbery—the court finds … Continue reading
NY1: Tossing backpack from car is waiver of REP
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a backpack he tossed from a car as he was being stopped by the police. (This conviction was February 2013; nearly six years being decided on appeal.) People v. Febo, 2018 N.Y. … Continue reading
OH5: Suppression motion cannot be denied solely for def’s nonappearance at hearing
Defendant failed to appear for his suppression hearing, and the trial court denied the motion based on that. He has a constitutional right to be present, and the court could not deny the motion solely on that ground. Reversed. If … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: No standing in a wiretapped contraband cell phone in prison
Defendant’s calls on a contraband cell phone in jail were wiretapped. He doesn’t even have standing because the phone was unlawful. “The cases concerning the precise question at issue—a prisoner’s ability to challenge the introduction of intercepted communications from his … Continue reading
CA9: Court can’t order return of property govt doesn’t have
Defendant can’t get an order for return of property where he can’t show that the government even has it. United States v. Tziu-Uc, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 34105 (9th Cir. Dec. 4, 2018). Self-represented defendant claimed ineffective assistance of counsel … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: No standing in an email account def didn’t open and disavows
Defendant has no standing in an email account that was opened by somebody else that he disavows is even connected to him. United States v. Lewis, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202501 (S.D. N.Y. Nov. 29, 2018). Reconsideration of prior denial … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Probation search of place probationer was merely visiting unreasonable
A person on supervised release was subject to a search condition of his residence. That did not include places he was visiting. Search of his backpack suppressed; a search warrant was required to even enter the premises of a third … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Boilerplate Franks claim fails on its face
“The defendant’s boilerplate claim that the ‘information used to obtain the search warrant from the Circuit Court judge was flawed with false allegation….’, … does not meet the Franks test for a hearing.” “While defendant did not explicitly argue that … Continue reading