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Recent Posts
- 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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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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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
CA8: SW for search of def’s person wasn’t particular, but there was a reference to the affidavit; GFE applies
The search warrant to search defendant’s person for things wasn’t particular, but the good faith exception applies. It referred to the affidavit which wasn’t present, but they remembered it. The search warrant wasn’t so deficient that it could not be … Continue reading
CA4: Def in rental car preserved standing issue; remanded for application of Byrd
Defendant was in a rental car, and he moved to suppress. He was denied standing under existing case law, but that was abrogated in Byrd. SCOTUS GVR’ed. Remanded for application of Byrd and whatever else. United States v. Houston, 2018 … Continue reading
CO: Person arrested at MJ grow but not charged can get his seized property back
An uncharged person originally arrested at an alleged illegal marijuana grow has standing to recover his own property seized from him. Boudette v. State, 2018 COA 109, 2018 Colo. App. LEXIS 1036 (July 26, 2018). Defendant’s bicycle rack on the … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Reasonable mistaken identity justified stop
Defendant’s stop was based on reasonable suspicion he was in the country illegally, but it was a case of mistaken identity. “Defendant was observed emerging from the vicinity of the target’s residence. Defendant closely resembled the target. Any discrepancy between … Continue reading
VI: Officer’s use of “legal buzz words” with “rote and mechanical” testimony and then memory failures leads trial court to conclude he’s not credible
The officer’s use of “legal buzz words” with “rote and mechanical” testimony and then memory failures leads trial court to conclude he’s not credible. People v. Stevens, 2018 V.I. LEXIS 70 (Super. Ct. July 26, 2018):
CA11: “The record shows” without showing it is not a Franks “substantial preliminary showing”
Defendant failed to make an offer of proof as required by Franks. Merely saying “the record shows” or something like that without more is not a “substantial preliminary showing.” United States v. Ward, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 20674 (11th Cir. … Continue reading
ME: Def was about to go into surgery after suspected DWI and accident; warrantless blood draw was with exigency and PC
Defendant was in a serious accident, and he was about to go into surgery. The blood draw at the request of the police was with exigent circumstances and probable cause. State v. Palmer, 2018 ME 108, 2018 Me. LEXIS 111 … Continue reading
OR: Late night stop of apparently intoxicated driver permits officer to ask about weapons
During a stop for suspected DUI late at night, the officer can legitimately ask the defendant whether he is armed. State v. Miller, 363 Ore. 374, 2018 Ore. LEXIS 602 (July 26, 2018):
CA2: Def wore GPS for two years for parole, but parole officers turned over monitoring to feds; monitoring not unreasonable
Defendant was on state parole and wore a GPS ankle monitor for two years. Parole turned over monitoring to the feds who monitored him to see what he was doing. The district court suppressed (United States v. Lambus, 251 F. … Continue reading
CA3: What is a “Rodriquz moment” in dicta, not even decided
A long and interesting, albeit ultimately unnecessary, discussion of Rodriquez and what is a “Rodriguez moment.” There was reasonable suspicion on the totality for a longer detention. United States v. Green, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 20655 (3d Cir. July 25, … Continue reading
The Atlantic: The FISA Fiasco’s Silver Lining
The Atlantic: The FISA Fiasco’s Silver Lining by April Doss: Recently released documents should put to rest fear that the process of surveilling Americans could be as simple as filling out a form for a perfunctory review.
N.D.N.Y.: Public employer’s prior failure to search work computers under policy didn’t create a REP
Plaintiff did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in her work issued computers under the school computer privacy policy. The fact they’d never looked before doesn’t otherwise create a reasonable expectation of privacy. Rissetto v. Clinton Essex Warren Wash. … Continue reading
MD: Stop-and-frisk might have been invalid, but def fled and that made it valid
Defendant was arguably subjected to an invalid stop and frisk, but his flight was an intervening circumstance supporting finding the gun. Thornton v. State, 2018 Md. App. LEXIS 716 (July 25, 2018). “The testimony at the suppression hearing demonstrated that … Continue reading
NY2: Murder conviction reversed: state failed to show PC to take def’s DNA
Probable cause was not shown to take defendant’s DNA. “Here, as the People correctly concede, the affidavit of the detective submitted in support of the search warrant application was conclusory and insufficient to establish probable cause to issue the warrant … Continue reading
CA2: In removal proceedings, pet’rs made a prima facie case of egregious 4A violation; remanded
“In removal proceedings before the IJ, both petitioners moved to suppress the evidence obtained during the search, arguing that the search violated the Fourth Amendment because it was conducted without a warrant, consent, or exigent circumstances, and, even assuming the … Continue reading
Lawfare: Carpenter and the End of Bulk Surveillance of Americans
Lawfare: Carpenter and the End of Bulk Surveillance of Americans by Sharon Bradford Franklin:
DE holds that exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to probation revocations
The exclusionary rule does not apply to probation revocation proceedings. No federal case holds to the contrary. Thompson v. State, 2018 Del. LEXIS 346 (July 24, 2018). The city’s administrative warrants for petitioner’s dilapidated buildings were properly issued. By statute, … Continue reading
NJ: Hearsay affidavit for DNA was permissible, but the state failed to show PC
Hearsay related by the affiant for defendant’s DNA sample was constitutionally permissible. Nevertheless, the state failed to show probable cause that defendant’s DNA would be on a gun, and the order denying the DNA sample was properly denied. State v. … Continue reading
CA6: Nexus shown to search def’s house for evidence of his drug deals
Defendant’s drug dealing connections were sufficient to establish nexus to his house. Drug dealers cannot immunize their activities by doing drug deals in parking lots. In any event, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Jenkins, 2018 U.S. App. … Continue reading
Newsweek: Police Are Three Times More Likely to Kill Black Men, Study Finds: ‘Not a Problem Confined to a Single Region’
Newsweek: Police Are Three Times More Likely to Kill Black Men, Study Finds: ‘Not a Problem Confined to a Single Region’ by Scottie Andrew: Police violence and homicide have persistently and disproportionately affected black communities for decades. A new study … Continue reading