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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)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
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
D.Minn.: Search incident on a PV warrant was valid
Search incident to arrest on a DOC warrant was valid. Search incident of his backpack in the car wasn’t valid, but it was by inventory and thus inevitable discovery. United States v. Vang, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161227 (D. Minn. … Continue reading
DE: While there was a plausible motion to suppress waived by the guilty plea, the plea offer was advantageous and undermines the prejudice
There was a good premise for a motion to suppress the probation search here from a 14 year old consenting to entry, but defendant’s benefit from the plea agreement shows that there was no prejudice. State v. Wallace, 2017 Del. … Continue reading
IL: Stop of a witness to a homicide led to RS for frisk
Defendant was seized as a witness to a homicide, not as a suspect. Once stopped, however, reasonable suspicion developed that he was in possession of a firearm, and a frisk was permitted. In re Tyreke H., 2017 IL App (1st) … Continue reading
CA5: Thumping a spare tire, even if a search, was with RS and reasonable under 4A
“Here, the agent articulated several observations which, based on his eight years of experience at this checkpoint, indicated that the truck’s spare tire contained contraband. Viewing this testimony in the light most favorable to the Government, and giving due deference … Continue reading
IA: Officer’s inquiry into a backpack unreasonably extended the stop
Defendant was stopped because there was a plastic film over his license plate that made one of the letters illegible in headlights. The purpose of the stop was complete within 3-4 minutes. The officer, however, suddenly became interested in a … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: Govt’s email SW in identity theft scheme is overbroad; applications need to be limited and resubmitted
The government’s email search applications are overbroad and don’t sufficiently protect the privacy rights of the account holders. The government, however, can limit the applications and submit them again. “The Magistrate Judge’s denial of the search warrant applications was not … Continue reading
E.D.Wash.: No REP in jail calls
Defendant’s jail calls were not obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Angulo, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190187 (E.D. Wash. March 18, 2015). Defendant challenges defense counsel’s performance in not asking the right questions during the suppression … Continue reading
CA5: Thumping a spare tire on PC wasn’t an unreasonable search
“Here, the agent articulated several observations which, based on his eight years of experience at this [immigration] checkpoint, indicated that the truck’s spare tire contained contraband. Viewing this testimony in the light most favorable to the Government, and giving due … Continue reading
LA1: State cured error of SDT for medical records with SW showing independent source
Defendant was charged with rape of a minor and whether he transmitted chlamydia to the alleged victim was a fact issue in dispute. The state obtained the records by subpoena finding that he had been a carrier since 2010, but … Continue reading
PA: SW for firearm in defendant’s home was stale 15 months after the murder (but harmless)
A search warrant for a murder weapon in defendant’s house was stale when it was issued 15 months after the murder. It was, however, harmless error in this case. Commonwealth v. Jacoby, 2017 Pa. LEXIS 2274 (Sept. 28, 2017) (separate … Continue reading
N.D.Fla.: Car on private property subject to automobile exception; 28 day delay in SW for cell phones unreasonable
Defendant’s car was subject to the automobile exception even though it was parked on private property. Waiting 28 days to get a search warrant for cell phones made the search unreasonable. United States v. Civil, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158377 … Continue reading
CA11: Opening car door to check window tint was reasonable
“On this record, opening the car door to test the window tint did not violate the Fourth Amendment since it satisfied the factors in Class — the safety of the officers was served by the governmental intrusion, the intrusion was … Continue reading
MD: 40 years after questioning inventory, the author of those opinions comes around to embrace inventory
The vehicle inventory was caught on body camera, and the officer failed to include the spare tire, jack, and jumper cables. That did not make the inventory invalid. In addition, a valid inventory with a mixed motive is not unreasonable … Continue reading
NY4: Drug testing condition of probation unenforceable without showing def needs it
Defendant’s drug testing condition of probation is unenforceable because there were no findings of drug or alcohol abuse in his past to justify it. People v. Saraceni, 2017 NY Slip Op 06732, 2017 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6746 (4th Dept. … Continue reading
FL: A “No Soliciting” sign posted on a home’s front door does not prohibit a knock-and-talk
A “No Soliciting” sign posted on a home’s front door does not prohibit law enforcement officers from conducting a knock-and-talk. People can still approach the front door under Jardines. It’s the law enforcement diversion from business at the door that … Continue reading
WaPo: Apple is opening up amid privacy questions about Face ID, personal data collection
WaPo: Apple is opening up amid privacy questions about Face ID, personal data collection by Hayley Tsukayama: Apple released more details about the iPhone X’s Face ID feature when it published a new privacy site Wednesday, addressing some of the concerns … Continue reading
OH4: Community caretaking function applies to unresponsive person in car
Officers did not seize defendant’s car when they approached and knocked on the window to rouse him. That was valid under the community caretaking function. They had reasonable suspicion, however, because he was disoriented, jittery, nervous, had dilated pupils, glassy … Continue reading
TX14: Def had no standing in cell phone he gave to his girlfriend
Defendant had no standing in a cell phone that he gave to his girlfriend and referred to as her cell phone. It was stolen from her and searched to locate the possible owner, and the phone had video of defendant … Continue reading
TX14: SW seizure of things besides child pornography to show def’s connection to the premises did not make the search unreasonable
The affidavit for the search warrant for defendant’s home and computer for child pornography was based on probable cause. The seizure of things besides child pornography to show defendant’s connection to the premises did not make the search unreasonable. (§ … Continue reading