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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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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)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (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
NE: Birchfield was decided day after def’s DUI conviction; GFE applies
Defendant was convicted of DUI the day before Birchfield was decided, and he moved for a new trial. The trial court denied the motion, and he appeals. The good faith exception applies to that which happened before Birchfield (without even … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Once a protective sweep is over, officers have to leave or they separately violate the 4A by staying
Officers lacked a reasonable basis for believing that there was anyone else in the apartment to conduct a protective sweep. Staying too long after the protective sweep is a separate constitutional violation. “Accordingly, even if the protective sweep had been … Continue reading
D.Colo: No REP in prison cell or photographs of inmate’s body in a prison murder case
Defendant was charged with murder of another inmate in ADX Florence. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his prison cell from a search, and photographing his body was reasonable and not an invasion of privacy. United States v. … Continue reading
D.Minn.: No standing where car rental company did not authorize def to drive
“Defendant’s argument as to standing to challenge the search of the van is foreclosed by the recent decision of the Eighth Circuit in United States v. Long, ___ F.3d ___, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 16740, 2017 WL 3741873 at *3 … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Flight from a pat down justifies arrest and search incident
“The initial encounter, including the officers’ questions to the Defendant, was justified under the community caretaker exception to the Fourth Amendment. However, that initial encounter quickly gave way to a pat-down search that was justified for officer safety under … … Continue reading
MA: Trial court suppression of confession on tape was clearly erroneous; with PC to arrest, def’s clothing could be seized and forensically tested
The trial court’s order suppressing defendant’s confession and the subsequent search of his clothing is reversed as clearly erroneous. Defendant’s arrest was with probable cause, and that allowed seizure and forensic testing of his clothing. Commonwealth v. Tremblay, 2017 Mass. … Continue reading
Constitution Daily: Supreme Court gets ready for “long conference” today re Collins v. Virginia (pet. pending)
Constitution Daily: Supreme Court gets ready for “long conference” today SCOTUSBlog: Issue: Whether the Fourth Amendment’s automobile exception permits a police officer, uninvited and without a warrant, to enter private property, approach a house and search a vehicle parked a … Continue reading
SD: Two months of pole camera surveillance without even RS violated a REP that society would recognize as reasonable; GFE applies, however
Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy that society is now prepared to recognize as reasonable from installation of a pole camera across the street from his house and monitoring it for two months based solely on a tip that … Continue reading
OR: Vehicle didn’t have to be seen moving before stop for automobile exception to apply (state constitution)
Defendant’s car didn’t have to be seen moving at the time of the stop for the automobile exception to apply. State v. Von Flue, 287 Ore. App. 798, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 1088 (Sept. 20, 2017)* (state constitution):
OR: Testing for semen in 9 yo girl’s underwear obtained by private search required a SW (under state constitution)
Defendant’s housekeeper’s finding likely semen in his 9 year old daughter’s underwear and turning it over to the authorities was a private search. “[T]esting of the underwear for semen was a ‘search’ under the Fourth Amendment because it significantly expanded … Continue reading
SD: Being a close friend and regular social guest of the homeowner still doesn’t give standing
Being a close friend and regular social guest of the homeowner still doesn’t give standing; it just isn’t a strong enough connection to the premises. He cared for the homeowner’s cat on occasion, but that wasn’t explained. State v. Gaters, … Continue reading
WA: Def’s new crime of obstruction wasn’t subject to suppression for illegal arrest
There is no general obligation to cooperate with the police, but there is a duty not to resist an arrest. Defendant’s obstruction was a new crime not subject to a motion to suppress for the alleged prior illegality of the … Continue reading
W.D.La.: Dismantling car battery within scope of consent to search car when drugs suspected there
Merely touching the fog line isn’t a safety factor, but the Louisiana courts have sustained that as a reason for a stop, so this court finds this stop reasonable. Defendant consented to a search of the car, and that would … Continue reading
Texas Observer: Body Cam Policies in Texas Exacerbate a System Designed to Protect Police, Critics Say
Texas Observer: Body Cam Policies in Texas Exacerbate a System Designed to Protect Police, Critics Say by Michael Barajas: Civil rights advocates worry interpretation of a 2015 body camera law could help cops avoid prosecution as much as it ensures … Continue reading
ID: Frisk doesn’t allow opening containers that can’t reasonably contain weapons; search incident doctrine doesn’t apply to frisk because no arrest
The search incident doctrine doesn’t apply to a stop and frisk. Thus, when a container is removed from a person in a frisk and the officer has no reasonable basis for concluding that the container has a weapon in it, … Continue reading
OH7: Enclosed porch door was curtilage, but inside door was threshold door
Defendant’s house had an unlocked porch door and a door inside. The porch door was part of the curtilage, but it was reasonable for persons visiting to go to the inside door and knock. “Based on this record, the facts … Continue reading
NC: Inconsistent stories from the passenger and driver alone isn’t RS
The passenger’s and driver’s stories weren’t inconsistent enough to justify reasonable suspicion. There were no other facts justifying suspicion of criminality. The officer asked about weapons, but he said that was common for a 4 am stop. State v. Nicholson, … Continue reading
DE: two on motions to suppress out of time
Motion to file a motion to suppress out of time is denied for not showing a sufficient excuse. Even so, defendant doesn’t allege standing, so he couldn’t win if it was allowed to be filed. State v. Boyd, 2017 Del. … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Over a year of CSLI was reasonable where the conspiracy covered over two years
Defendants were charged with a series of ATM robberies, and the government sought historical CSLI to link the defendants together. This is third party information. The fact that information was sought for over a year in some of the defendants’ … Continue reading