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- CA9: With a SW for a murder weapon, a frisk of the occupants is reasonable
- W.D.Mich.: Drug dealers commonly keep proceeds and drugs at home, and that’s nexus
- OH8: For Rodriguez purposes, checking out-of-state DLs just 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
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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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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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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
C.D.Cal.: That building inspector’s entry was governed by 4A is clearly established
A municipal building inspector’s entry into plaintiff’s building is governed by the Fourth Amendment and the law is well established. “Red-Tagging” the property for defects facially states a claim for relief and the motion to dismiss is denied. VNT Prop. … Continue reading
MO: Homeowner had apparent authority to consent to search his basement where def had been living for 12 days
Police were investigating the defendant for child pornography, and located him at a friend’s house where he’d been living in the basement for 12 days. Because of the layout of the basement and its access, the court finds that the … Continue reading
ID: 4A waiver not mentioned at sentencing couldn’t later be imposed by PO
When defendant was sentenced, there was no Fourth Amendment waiver mentioned by the court, and the sentencing and probation order didn’t mention it. Six weeks later, he was forced to sign a Fourth Amendment waiver by his PO. That waiver … Continue reading
IL: SI on an arrest with PC but made without a warrant removing def from house was valid; SI occurred outside
Defendant was unlawfully arrested inside his home without a warrant. He was taken outside and frisked and a gun was found. The gun will not be suppressed under existing Illinois precedent. “As a result, we find the cases cited by … Continue reading
techdirt: Court Tells Cops They Can’t Use GPS Data Gathered After Suspect They Were Tracking Sold The Vehicle
techdirt: Court Tells Cops They Can’t Use GPS Data Gathered After Suspect They Were Tracking Sold The Vehicle by Tim Cushing:
S.D.Fla.: No Franks hearing: The omitted would only have added to PC
Defendant isn’t entitled to a Franks hearing: “The addition of the omitted information to the search warrant application would not have detracted from the probable cause and may very well have strengthened the probable cause stated in the affidavit.” United … Continue reading
AZ: No REP in conversations about def’s driving under influence when officer was there to hear it
Defendant was in a hospital room and had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his conversations on his cell phone or with medical personal admitting driving under the influence when he knew that the officer was near and could overhear … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Court credits that officer could smell burnt marijuana coming from def’s car while driving
The court credits the officer that while driving behind defendant’s vehicle, the officer could smell burnt marijuana coming from it, and that was at least reasonable suspicion. United States v. Theus, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26719 (D. S.D. Feb. 27, … Continue reading
S.D.Tex.: RS developed during immigration checkpoint stop of U.S. citizens
Defendants were U.S. citizens and had already crossed the border. The car had Louisiana plates. They were stopped at the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint and citizenship was quickly resolved, but reasonable suspicion developed for the car to be referred to … Continue reading
CNN: Wikileaks claims to reveal how CIA hacks TVs and phones all over the world
CNN: Wikileaks claims to reveal how CIA hacks TVs and phones all over the world by Jose Pagliery: The CIA has become the preeminent hacking operation, sneaking into high-tech phones and televisions to spy on people worldwide, according to an … Continue reading
EFF: Secret Court Orders Aren’t Blank Checks for General Electronic Searches
EFF: Secret Court Orders Aren’t Blank Checks for General Electronic Searches by Mark Rumhold:
Ark. Dem.-Gaz.: Amazon will turn over any data recorded in man’s hot-tub death
Ark. Dem.-Gaz.: Amazon will turn over any data recorded in man’s hot-tub death by Tracy Neal: Murder suspect allows access to voice-activated device
D.Colo.: GPS tracking a car after it had been sold by target was unreasonable
Defendant bought a car that had a GPS device placed by the police with a 60 day tracking warrant. He paid for it for his girlfriend, with whom he had a child, and he drove it at the time of … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Rejecting R&R, court finds stop pretextual and without RS
After USMJ sustained the stop (United States v. McLemore, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177419 (N.D.Iowa Dec. 21, 2016), posted here), the USDJ disagrees and disbelieves the officer’s testimony and finding the stop pretextual that the paper temporary tag couldn’t be … Continue reading
NJ permits limited search of the console when the def makes a half-hearted attempt to locate the papers for the vehicle
New Jersey again permits a limited search of the console [and likely glove compartment] when the defendant makes a half-hearted attempt to locate the papers for the vehicle. This is a limited search for the papers only, which would be … Continue reading
CA10: Habeas appellant had full and fair opportunity to litigate in state court, and evidence supported verdict
Under Stone v. Powell, defendant had a full and fair opportunity to litigate that he was the right person arrested even though he didn’t match the description of the person wanted. The finding of guilty survives AEDPA review under Jackson … Continue reading
OH10: Smell of MJ from car justified its search; suppression reversed
The trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion to suppress because the officer smelled marijuana in defendant’s car, and that justified its search. Moreover, defendant wasn’t in custody when he was speaking to the officer, so his statements aren’t suppressed. … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: 26 U.S.C. § 7609 and the Code of Professional Conduct for CPAs creates no REP; Couch remains good law
“[D]efendant Galloway moves to suppress from admission into evidence the tax records received from CPA Livsey by IRS agents, arguing that 26 U.S.C. § 7609 and the Code of Professional Conduct for CPA’s conferred upon him a reasonable expectation of … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Dispute over inventory didn’t need to be resolved because automobile exception applied in any event
Defendant was stopped for no front license plate, and that led to a finding that his DL was revoked and the vehicle unlicensed. During his arrest, it was determined that there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The officer … Continue reading