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- W.D.N.Y.: No due process right to adversarial hearing before issuance of a DNA warrant
- E.D.Wis.: Lifetime GPS monitoring of some sex offenders traveling out of state doesn’t violate 4A
- 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
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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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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)
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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
E.D.Mo.: An anonymous tip included LPN of vehicle; when officers attempted to stop it, occupants shot at them; there was RS
An officer attempted to pull over a car based on an anonymous 911 tip that people who were in a crashed car got into the suspect vehicle and the LPN was given. The car refused to stop, a high speed … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Undocumented alien was held w/o PC and interrogated; exclusionary rule applies
“This is a story about law-enforcement officers who take shortcuts in their zeal to make arrests and the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution, which prohibit them from doing so.” Defendant was validly stopped, but he was … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Def’s complete lack of knowledge of anything of vehicle was RS of drug trafficking
“Here, Officer Pratt had independent reasonable suspicion for prolonging the traffic stop. He noted that the fact that the car was registered to one person and insured to another, neither of whom were the defendant, was a prominent indicator of … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Using Cellebrite to copy files on two phones and an iPad at the border was with RS and reasonable
A DHS officer took defendant’s Motorola phone, iPhone, and iPad from a Customs officer at the border when defendant was arrested for importing cocaine in her car. The Motorola phone wasn’t password protected, and it was examined with a Cellebrite … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Failure to follow a document search protocol in otherwise reasonably conducted computer and device searches wasn’t unreasonable under 4A
The court conducts a second hearing over whether blanket suppression is required for over searching numerous electronic devices seized from the defendant, some of which were later turned over by defense counsel. Defendant sought to bring his case within “United … Continue reading
PA: Lifting floor mat in protective weapons search of car was reasonable
Lifting the floor mat during a protective weapons search of a car is reasonable. Defendant’s IAC claim fails because the search was valid. Commonwealth v. Watley, 2016 PA Super 311, 2016 Pa. Super. LEXIS 810 (Dec. 29, 2016). A 911 … Continue reading
OH9: Highly erratic driving with a near head-on collision and “glassy, bloodshot eyes” alone was RS for FST even without smell of alcohol
The video of defendant’s driving shows that he drove entirely into another lane and nearly had an accident with another vehicle. When stopped, he was cooperative, didn’t smell of alcohol, and denied drinking. He did, however, have “glassy, bloodshot eyes, … Continue reading
TX DWIs: RS for cont’d detention to get certified officer there; no justification shown for failure to get a SW for draw
There was reasonable suspicion of DWI for defendant’s detention for an additional 21 minutes to get an officer there certified to conduct an HGN test. The delay for was legitimate law enforcement and investigative purposes. Cagle v. State, 2016 Tex. … Continue reading
ID: State’s failure to make offer of proof of justification for exigency left void in record that supports trial court’s findings
The district court affirmed the magistrate court’s conclusion that there was no exigency for a warrantless blood draw. The state sought to offer evidence of unavailability of magistrates, to which the defense successfully objected and it was struck. On this … Continue reading
Portland Press Herald: State seeks more authority in investigations of suspected lobstering violations: secretly installed GPS in boats
Portland Press Herald: State seeks more authority in investigations of suspected lobstering violations by Kevin Miller Legislation is being drafted to make it easier for Maine Marine Patrol officers to secretly install tracking or surveillance devices on boats.
LA5: Adult grandson lived with grandmother; she could consent to his room because he didn’t pay rent
Defendant lived with his grandmother, but he didn’t pay rent. He was arrested and taken away, and she consented to a search of his room. “[T]he consenting party, Ms. Gant, was the sole owner of the property subject to the … Continue reading
KS: Getting in car after a drug deal makes its search subject to search incident and automobile exception
Defendant did a drug deal with narcs and had $220 in cash with recorded numbers. He got in his car. On the stop of the car, the search for the $220 was justified by either search incident to arrest or … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: When paper tag shows to be current, the officer can still talk to the driver within the “mission” of the stop (Updated: R&R rejected)
Defendant’s stop was objectively justified for the paper tag in the back window that couldn’t be read. The fact the officer may have a subjective pretext doesn’t make the stop objectively unreasonable. Here, the pretext was that the car was … Continue reading
CO: No IAC for not challenging P2P search of computer since no REP
Defense counsel was not ineffective for not challenging the search of defendant’s computer via a P2P connection on Limewire that resulted in his child pornography conviction. By going online via Limewire, defendant essentially opened his computer to the outside world, … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: Limited motion for return of property doesn’t prevent transfer from feds to state; privilege issues can still be litigated later
The petitioner moved for return of property, seized computer information, under Rule 41(g) for purposes of conducting business. The government moved to transfer the information to state authorities for their own investigation. The fact there is a potential attorney-client privilege … Continue reading
CA9: How can a mere visitor have apparent authority to consent to search premises? She can’t
The District Court clearly erred in crediting that a mere visitor had apparent authority to consent to a search of a house. United States v. Chavez, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 23301 (9th Cir. Dec. 27, 2016):
NY2: Burglar alarm wasn’t license to enter when objective facts at scene belied emergency
Police responded to a burglar alarm in Nassau County. At the house, they found the defendant working under a car. They inquired, and he claimed to be the son of the homeowner. He showed them his keys. He said he … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Officer isn’t obliged to ask about MMJ card when he smells MJ coming from car
Odor of marijuana in car was still probable cause. “Johnson contends that Sergeant Simmont’s failure to ask whether Johnson carried a medical marijuana card undermined any finding of probable cause. But Johnson cites no authority for the proposition that Sergeant … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Smell of PCP from a car was PC
On officer on an unrelated call in the neighborhood in early morning hours heard a nearby gunshot. Dispatch reported that the shot was reported by ShotSpotter to be likely at a certain address. There the officer found people milling around. … Continue reading