Archives
-
Recent Posts
- OH8: For Rodriguez, checking out-of-state DLs takes longer
- W.D.La.: Israel’s capture of Palestinian cell phone calls was foreign search in case here
- IN: Officer’s interpretation of traffic law wasn’t reasonable so stop was void
- Gizmodo: How You Could End Up in a Government Surveillance Database and Never Know It
- Reason: Miami Sheriff Hired a Private Law Firm To Pursue—and Profit From—Asset Forfeiture Cases
-
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
Boston Globe: Should Massachusetts require police to obtain search warrants to use drones for investigations?
Boston Globe: Should Massachusetts require police to obtain search warrants to use drones for investigations? by Bradley H. Jones Jr., Massachusetts House minority leader, North Reading Republican:
CA6: Officer in § 1983 case didn’t show basis for warrantless entry; QI erroneously granted
Crediting the plaintiffs’ complaint and the proof thus far, the defendant officer did not show an excuse for dispensing with the warrant requirement for a warrantless entry into the plaintiffs’ home. Thus, summary judgment on qualified immunity was erroneously granted … Continue reading
OH7: Wooded area behind house was open fields, not curtilage
The area where defendant’s grow operation was found was not curtilage. It was a long distance from the house in a wooded area, and it was in “open fields.” State v. Hambleton, 2017-Ohio-7561, 2017 Ohio App. LEXIS 3876 (7th Dist. … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: SW for seizure and search of a computer allows the search to be done at a later time
A second search of a computer’s contents is usually justified by the initial search and seizure warrant for the computer. United States v. Perry, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148336 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 13, 2017). Officers went to a Biloxi motel … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Search under SW not void for failure to leave affidavit in support at scene
There was probable cause for issuance of a search warrant for defendant’s computer for child pornography, which defendant doesn’t contest, except for quibbling over a word in the affidavit about how the officer came upon defendant’s laptop because, even if … Continue reading
TX: Dissent added to Texas’s adopting Davis good faith exception to statutory exclusionary rule
Back in March was this post: Texas finally adopts the Davis good faith exception to its statutory exclusionary rule reporting on McClintock v. State, 2017 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 291 (March 22, 2017). A dissent was just added in McClintock … Continue reading
Cal.4: Probation search of “property, personal effects” reasonably includes a cell phone and its data
A probation search of “property, personal effects” reasonably includes a cell phone and its data. There are no limits on what “personal effects” means in the search condition paperwork. And, this was misdemeanor probation, and the search of the phone … Continue reading
D.Mont.: How many ways can this vehicle search be sustained that go unmentioned?
Defendant was stopped for driving erratically through a construction zone, and when stopped, he was acting strange and officers ordered his hands up. He slowly raised them with a cell phone in hand. Hands on guns, officers approached and saw … Continue reading
OH7: “Appellant acknowledges a hotel employee can consent to law enforcement’s entry into a hotel room if the guest has been evicted.” He was
Defendant was staying at a Comfort Inn, and the hotel quickly concluded defendant was dealing drugs from the room. He didn’t respond to their entries to get out, so they called the police who came to remove him. When defendant … Continue reading
VA: CoA erred in reversing conviction for 4A error where it didn’t contribute to verdict
The Court of Appeals erred in reversing defendant’s conviction because of an alleged Fourth Amendment error where the uncontested evidence demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational juror would have found him guilty without the disputed evidence, because that … Continue reading
NLJ: Federal Judge Sues Judicial Conference Over Forced Mental Health Evaluation
NLJ: Federal Judge Sues Judicial Conference Over Forced Mental Health Evaluation by Cogan Schneier (claiming that the forced mental examination violates the Fifth and Fourth Amendments and separation of powers).
Natl.L.Rev.: The Utah Blood Draw Story: Drawing Unwarranted Conclusions
Natl.L.Rev.: The Utah Blood Draw Story: Drawing Unwarranted Conclusions by David J. Edquist & Aaron M. Smith:
OH: Def has no standing in place of another that he was arrested in, so Steagald provides him no relief
Defendant could not show he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the premises of a third person, although he was the person being looked for. The court discusses Steagald and the Ninth Circuit’s en banc Underwood (1983, Treatise §§ … Continue reading
KY: Search incident of a cell phone between Riley cert grant and decision was unreasonable; no binding authority in state, so no GFE
Defendant’s cell phone was subjected to a search incident for it’s data between the cert grant in Riley and the decision. Riley was a new rule and retroactive. There was no binding authority in Kentucky at the time, so the … Continue reading
ACLU and EFF sue over border searches of smartphones
WaPo: Agents are increasingly searching smartphones at the border. This lawsuit wants to limit that. Fortune: ACLU, EFF Sue to Stop Phone, Laptop Searches at the Border NYTimes: Forced Searches of Phones and Laptops at US Border Are Illegal, Lawsuit … Continue reading
Recorder: This California Bill Would Restrict Immigration Enforcement in State Courts
Recorder: This California Bill Would Restrict Immigration Enforcement in State Courts by Cheryl Miller: A Los Angeles lawmaker says he’ll pursue a bill in January that would bar federal immigration agents from arresting or questioning undocumented immigrants in state courthouses unless … Continue reading
Atlantic: Can Cops Force You to Unlock Your Phone With Your Face?
Atlantic: Can Cops Force You to Unlock Your Phone With Your Face? by Kevah Waddell: Apple’s new Face ID technology raises questions about constitutional protections for personal devices.
The Hill: Sessions, Coats push for permanent renewal of controversial surveillance law
The Hill: Sessions, Coats push for permanent renewal of controversial surveillance law by Katie Bo Williams The nation’s top law enforcement leader and top spy on Monday urged Senate and House leadership to permanently renew a widely used but controversial U.S. … Continue reading
OR: Global plea agreement to dispose of 40 charges from a crime spree wasn’t IAC where no motions to suppress were shown plausible and plea clearly favored defendant
After becoming addicted to opiods for treatment from a injury, defendant went on a crime spree committing over 40 offenses. His attorney worked out a favorable global resolution of the case. Once in the pen, with buyer’s remorse, defendant decided … Continue reading