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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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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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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
NY3: SW for strip search for drugs hidden in crotch was reasonable
A search warrant for any vehicle defendant was found driving was particular enough. There was a factual basis for issuing a search warrant for a strip search where the CI said that defendant kept drugs in his crotch. People v. … Continue reading
D.S.D.: No REP on couch in living room of another where def slept; owner could consent
Defendant slept on the couch of another, and the other had to walk by it to his own bedroom. He could consent to the search of the couch even though it was defendant’s bed. United States v. Zastrow, 2016 U.S. … Continue reading
Editorial: When it comes to police body cameras, the public can’t be kept in the dark
Editorial: When it comes to police body cameras, the public can’t be kept in the dark: Body-worn cameras are all the rage among police departments that are serious about accountability. But the tool is still so new that there’s little … Continue reading
The Intercept: Secret Rules Make It Pretty Easy for the FBI to Spy on Journalists
The Intercept: Secret Rules Make It Pretty Easy for the FBI to Spy on Journalists by Cora Currier: SECRET FBI RULES allow agents to obtain journalists’ phone records with approval from two internal officials — far less oversight than under … Continue reading
Cal.6th: In probation search, roommate’s stuff couldn’t be searched; “widely shared social expectations” show privacy rights
Defendant was living as a roommate of a probationer in a clearly separate room. A probation search could not include her separate living space, dresser drawers, and her purse. “The question is what ‘widely shared social expectations’ govern defendant’s privacy … Continue reading
CO: Smell of MJ can still be factor in PC on totality, despite 1 oz being legal
D.Guam: CI corroborated by prior police intel
The CI in this case was supported by (1) the fact defendant had been arrested for drugs in 2006 and (2) police intelligence that he was already dealing drugs. The search warrant was validly issued. United States v. Quitugua, 2016 … Continue reading
WSJ: Racial Disparity Found in Police Taser Use
WSJ: Racial Disparity Found in Police Taser Use by Joseph De Avila: Minorities were involved in more than half of the 2015 incidents of Taser use by Connecticut police, report says.
Hot Air: The Fourth Amendment covers everyone … including suspected criminals
Hot Air: The Fourth Amendment covers everyone … including suspected criminals by Taylor Millard: It’s completely understandable why “law and order” conservatives are defending the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Utah v. Strieff case. Edward Strieff Jr. had a … Continue reading
OH11: Four hour delay to go to reported meth lab then smelling nothing meant no exigency
Officers received word that defendant had a meth lab at his house. They waited four hours to go there, and, when they did, they smelled nothing. Thus, there was no exigent circumstances. State v. Link, 2016-Ohio-4597, 2016 Ohio App. LEXIS … Continue reading
EFF: Racial Bias and Arrest Tech
EFF: Racial Bias and Arrest Tech by Jennifer Lynch and Adam Schwartz: Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court took away a little more of your right to be free from unlawful police searches. In a 5-3 decision in Utah v. … Continue reading
S.D.Tex.: Seizure of cell phone incident to arrest was valid
“Here, the seizure of Fulton’s cell phone during his arrest fell squarely within the exception articulated in Chimel and Robinson as a seizure incident to arrest.” United States v. Fulton, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83014 (S.D.Tex. June 23, 2016). The … Continue reading
Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Police institute new ‘use of force’ policy for officers as Justice Department report looms
Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Police institute new ‘use of force’ policy for officers as Justice Department report looms by Kevin Rector: The Baltimore Police Department plans to implement a new use-of-force policy Friday that emphasizes the “sanctity of life,” stresses de-escalation … Continue reading
D.Minn.: USDJ’s job is to adopt R&R when the proof is in dispute
When there are two views of the suppression evidence before the USMJ that are plausible, it’s not the USDJ’s job to reject the R&R but adopt it. United States v. Hull, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83877 (D.Minn. June 27, 2016)*:
Outside the Beltway: The Fourth Amendment Was Meant To Protect All Of Us, Not Just The “Innocent”
Outside the Beltway: The Fourth Amendment Was Meant To Protect All Of Us, Not Just The “Innocent” by Doug Mataconis: . . . Right off the bat, I must note with all due respect that the assertion that the protections … Continue reading
Cal.4th: sex offense probation condition that def submit to computer searches was reasonable
Defendant’s sex offense probation condition that he submit to computer searches was reasonably related to the offense. In re George F., 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 518 (4th Dist. June 28, 2016):
CA6: Nexus isn’t shown to def’s house just because his car is registered there
The search warrant for defendant’s house was not based on any nexus between his alleged offense and his house. His car was involved in drug dealing, but his car being registered at his house isn’t nexus to the house. United … Continue reading
E.D.La.: Shipping a package under an alias means no REP in it to challenge search
Defendant shipped a package from a UPS store in San Bernardino CA to Houma LA. His name wasn’t on the package as the sender or the recipient, so he didn’t have standing to challenge the search of the package. United … Continue reading