November 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Archives
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Recent Posts
- D.Ariz.: Smell of alcohol in the car on Navajo Nation was PC
- NY3: No REP in parole GPS monitoring as to police
- TX: An entry into a person’s homestead for civil discovery has limits
- S.D.W.Va.: Subpoenas for records on advocacy positions violated 1A
- CA10: Investigative detention that went on for hours did not become an arrest
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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 -
Latest Slip Opinions:
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Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
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General (many free):
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www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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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
Privacy Foundation
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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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)
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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
N.D.Ohio: Alleged mishandling of drugs during execution of SW didn’t make them inadmissible
Even if the officers (mis)handled the drugs during the search, they’d still come into evidence at trial. United States v. McDonald, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11844 (N.D. Ohio Jan. 22, 2025). The trial court suppressed this cell phone search as … Continue reading
VI: Multiple falsities about CI made successful Franks challenge
Defendant succeeded in his Franks challenge on misleading statements about the CI as an observer rather than participant in the crime and the affidavit lacked corroborating investigative facts and omitted information about W1’s lies. All this was material to the … Continue reading
Cert. granted: Martin v. United States over mistaken SWAT raid
SCOTUSBlog: Justices take up case on right to sue over mistaken SWAT raid by Amy Howe:
CA9: Deleting email account to avoid SW was obstruction
Defendant deleting his email account to avoid a search warrant supported an obstruction conviction. United States v. Diaz, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 1459 (9th Cir. Jan. 23, 2025). Defendant was stopped in a high crime area without reasonable suspicion. There … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Exclusionary rule doesn’t apply before grand juries
Calandra revisited [and I haven’t seen it since Calandra]: Exclusionary rule doesn’t apply before grand juries. United States v. Jones, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11132 (D. Nev. Jan. 21, 2025). The search warrant was based on two controlled buys plus … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Jail strip search for safety purposes was reasonable
This jail strip search under the jail’s policy for safety purposes was reasonable. United States v. Sutton, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10974 (N.D. Iowa Jan. 22, 2025).* Not the countervailing considerations:
W.D.Wash.: No exclusion where alleged misconduct was not flagrant
Here, there was the intervening circumstance of an arrest warrant. There was also probable cause. United States v. Howell, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10557 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 21, 2025)*:
E.D.Pa.: Warrantless “emergency” entry without an emergency violated 4A but no suppression for isolated negligent act
Police did a “hit and hold” on defendant’s house without a warrant, a tactic reserved for emergencies. This was not, but it was an isolated act of negligence so the exclusionary rule will not be applied. United States v. Walker, … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Anonymous report of man threatening others with a gun didn’t provide RS
The anonymous report about a man threatening others in Queens adequately described defendant but it provided nothing to show that there was a crime in the offing. The stop and search was without reasonable suspicion. “On this record, it is … Continue reading
MA: Community caretaking transport of juvenile permits patdown for safety
A patdown of a juvenile found with gang members being taken to his caregiver was reasonable for safety purposes under the community caretaking function. Commonwealth v. Demos D., 105 Mass. App. Ct. 193 (Jan. 17, 2025). Reasonable suspicion not required … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Sec. 702 FISA searches require a warrant for U.S. persons
Sec. 702 FISA searches require a warrant for U.S. persons. United States v. Hasbajrami, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 238018 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 2, 2024), filed with CISO and unsealed Jan. 21, 2025), on remand from United States v. Hasbajrami, 945 F.3d … Continue reading
D.C.Cir.: Compelling defendant to unlock his phone was a 5A testimonial act
Compelling defendant to unlock his phone was a testimonial act under Hubbell, and it had to be suppressed. (Deciding the Fifth Amendment claim moots need to decide the Fourth Amendment claim.) United States v. Brown, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 1219 … Continue reading
ABA CJ: Predictive Policing Algorithms and the Fourth Amendment
Dominic A. Weiss, Predictive Policing Algorithms and the Fourth Amendment, ABA Criminal Justice 15 (Winter 2025) Leveraging Predictive Policing Algorithms to Restore Fourth Amendment Protections in High-Crime Areas in a Post-Wardlow World by Kelly Koss. Abstract:
M.D.Fla.: Denying knowledge of the car involved was a lack of standing
Denying knowledge of the car involved was a lack of standing. United States v. Powers, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 237574 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 18, 2024), adopted, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8322 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 16, 2025). “The totality of the … Continue reading
CA3: Conviction for threats by internet justified supervised release condition of computer monitoring
Where defendant was convicted of making threats over the internet to a Congressman, a two year computer monitoring condition was reasonable and did not violate the First and Fourth Amendment. United States v. Hall, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 1109 (3d … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: USPO can turn phone seized in supervised release over to FBI
It was not improper for the PO to turn defendant’s phone over to the FBI to search it when it was already lawfully seized. “This is not a stalking horse case.” The delay was not unreasonable. United States v. Fuller, … Continue reading
Reason: “the Supreme Court’s oral argument yesterday in Barnes v. Felix will be noteworthy.”
Reason: Prof. Robert Leider on the arguments in Barnes v. Felix by Will Baude: Professor Robert Leider, who writes in both constitutional law and criminal law, passed along these comments on the Supreme Court’s recent oral argument in an excessive … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: “Imprint” of a gun in the pocket can be RS def is carrying
The “imprint” of a gun in the pocket can be reasonable suspicion defendant is carrying. United States v. Morris, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8729 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 16, 2025). Defendant is charged with six Hobbs Act robberies. His vehicle was … Continue reading