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Recent Posts
- 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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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)
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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
W.D.N.C.: Franks does include a right to a hearing without making a prima facie showing
Defendant doesn’t get an opportunity to test the truth of the affidavit under Franks in a hearing without making a prima facie case of materiality and wilful falsity. United States v. Payne, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127287 (W.D.N.C. Aug. 9, … Continue reading
W.D.Tenn.: Nothing of exterior of building suggested separate living units inside; officers found def’s door open and unlocked inside
Nothing of the outward appearance of the dwelling that was subject to the search warrant suggested that there were multiple units inside. Thus, officers could not have known until after entry seeing some of the doors with keyed locks, and … Continue reading
AK: State court judgment not “void” for habeas purposes because evidence illegally seized
A state court judgment is not “void” for state habeas purposes because it relies on evidence allegedly obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Olson v. State, 2016 Alas. App. LEXIS 172 (Sept. 23, 2016). Defendant saw an unmarked police … Continue reading
TN: The host had common authority over the guest’s part of the premises; he was only there every other night
Defendant had been staying every other night with his brother who stayed in the property leased by Ms. Bryant. She had common authority over that room and went in it all the time. The trial court did not err in … Continue reading
NE: A DRE expert isn’t required to make stop have PC for a DWI arrest
It isn’t required that the state have a DRE specialist make an arrest to determine whether there is probable cause for defendant’s arrest. It is required that the officers exclude other possibilities for the appearance of intoxication. State v. Rothenberger, … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Def provided a cell phone to a minor he was trafficking for sex, and he had no REP in it even though he paid for it
Defendant was accused of sex trafficking a minor and provided her a cell phone. She had apparent authority to consent to search of the phone, and it was voluntarily given. United States v. Gardner, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128480 (E.D.Mich. … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Even if dog unlawfully came on curtilage, officers’ plain smell of MJ from the street was PC
Officers went to defendant’s house suspecting a grow operation. On the sidewalk in front of his house, they could smell raw marijuana. They went to the door and window air conditioning unit and could smell it. They brought a drug … Continue reading
NYTimes: Court Leader or Leading Dissenter? Chief Justice’s Fate Tied to Election
NYTimes: Court Leader or Leading Dissenter? Chief Justice’s Fate Tied to Election by Adam Liptak: WASHINGTON — In Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s 11 years on the Supreme Court, his unfolding legacy has been marked by a debate over … Continue reading
D.Del.: Where records examination is voluntary, no 4A claim stated where ptf refuses
The Delaware State Escheater sought an examination of records of Marathon Petroleum, and it refused to comply. The state could not force plaintiff to comply, so there is no search if plaintiff refuses. Marathon Petroleum Corp. v. Cook, 2016 U.S. … Continue reading
WaPo: Meet the judge who just released 200 secret government surveillance requests
WaPo: Meet the judge who just released 200 secret government surveillance requests by Spencer Hsu: In ordering the first-ever release by a full federal district court of a year’s worth of secret government surveillance requests, U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl … Continue reading
OH10: Leaving house to go to drug deal and returning there was nexus to house
Nexus to defendant’s house for a drug search warrant is shown by the fact that he returned to the house immediately after a drug transaction [what does that prove? Most people go home after work] and left the house to … Continue reading
CA7: Family computer that everybody knew password to gives common authority to all
The computer in the house belonged to defendant but it was a family computer and everybody knew the password. That being the case, any one of them had common authority over the computer to consent to its search. The fact … Continue reading
AR: Just because officer says on video “He’s been arrested for dope, dope, and dope … carrying a weapon” doesn’t mean it still wasn’t a valid inventory
The 4 on the year on the LPN expiration sticker looked funny, so the Trooper ran the LPN and it came back expired in 2011. It had been altered with a marker. Defendant said he borrowed his friend’s pickup. Defendant … Continue reading
OR: Search of Altoids tin during search of backpack for drugs was reasonable
When searching defendant’s backpack incident to arrest for drugs, the further search of an Altoids tin wasn’t unreasonable because it was a place where drugs would be held. State v. Krause, 281 Ore. App. 143, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 1142 … Continue reading
CA5: Warning potential victim of a hit on him overheard on a wiretap didn’t dissipate the exigency to try to stop it
The FBI learned through a wiretap that a person had a hit out on him by defendant, and succeeded in finding him and warning him. The mere fact he was warned didn’t dissipate the exigency because, until defendant was rounded … Continue reading
Esquire: The Bill of Rights Is Hanging by a Thread
Esquire: The Bill of Rights Is Hanging by a Thread by Charles P. Pierce: The law is supposed to be our protector, not our enemy.
TN: Blood on def’s sock supported PC for automobile exception
Based on blood on defendant’s sock, on the totality there was probable cause to believe that more possible blood evidence would be found in his car. That was sufficient for the automobile exception to apply. State v. Peden, 2016 Tenn. … Continue reading
S.D.Iowa finds Playpen NIT warrant violation of Rule 41 and Fourth Amendment
S.D.Iowa joins minority and finds Playpen NIT warrant violation of Rule 41 also a Fourth Amendment violation. United States v. Croghan, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127479 (S.D.Iowa Sept. 19, 2016):
IL: Stop for failure to signal lane movement was not unreasonable where no case said officer couldn’t make stop
The officer’s stop of defendant for not using his turn signal when the signal lane became two lanes was at least a mistake of law under Heien, already recognized in Illinois. No state case addresses these facts, and it’s not … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Def claimed on post-conviction defense counsel promised win on motion to suppress; hearing has to be held
Defendant in his 2255 claimed defense counsel promised that he could win a motion to suppress. Defense counsel denied it, saying he reviewed the file and told defendant it was a hopeless motion. A hearing has to be held. United … Continue reading