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- CA6: State officer’s arrest for violation of federal MJ law likely wouldn’t violate 4A
- D.N.M.: Shared driveway outside of fence and gate was not curtilage
- CA6: Knowing passcode to cell phone shows common authority over it to consent
- VI: Smell of MJ no longer PC in VI since legalization
- Reason: 3 Charlotte Cops Resign After Group Chat Reveals Competition To Arrest the Most Black People
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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. 
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Reason: Kansas Supreme Court Says Cops Can Search Your Home Without a Warrant If They Claim It Smells Like Pot
Reason: Kansas Supreme Court Says Cops Can Search Your Home Without a Warrant If They Claim It Smells Like Pot by Jacob Sullum: Cops supposedly smelled 25 grams of pot inside a plastic container inside a safe inside a closet … Continue reading
MO: Requiring trial objection after denial of motion to suppress allows trial court to reconsider; issue still preserved here
Defense counsel in Missouri is obligated to object again when evidence that was subject to a motion to suppress that was overruled is offered into evidence. This gives the trial court the opportunity to revisit the ruling under the evidence … Continue reading
Today is Bill of Rights Day
227 years ago today the Fourth Amendment became effective, Dec. 15, 1791
New Law Review Article: Cross-Enforcement of the Fourth Amendment by Orin Kerr
Cross-Enforcement of the Fourth Amendment, 132 Harv. L. Rev. 471 (2018), by Orin Kerr. Abstract:
Human Rights Watch: =Dark Side: Secret Origins of Evidence in US Criminal Cases
Human Rights Watch: Dark Side: Secret Origins of Evidence in US Criminal Cases
E.D.N.Y.: Partially redacted aff for SW admissible to show consciousness of guilt
The government gets to use the affidavit for search warrant but partially redacted to show defendant’s consciousness of guilt. United States v. Zhong, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199848 (E.D. N.Y. Nov. 26, 2018). A firearm found in a search of … Continue reading
Book 30% off this week
Book on sale at 30% off all week.
AK: Search of tenant’s computer found during SW for landlord’s computer was unreasonable
Alaska State Troopers had a search warrant for a computer in a house. While there, they find a computer that belonged to another who was the target’s tenant, so they decided to seize that computer, too, and search it. The … Continue reading
WA: State AG’s civil investigative demand to a company did not unreasonably intrude into “private affairs” or violate 4A
A company that consolidated student loans was required to comply with the Washington State Attorney General’s civil investigative demand (CID) under Wash. Rev. Code § 19.86.110. The company did not have a right against self-incrimination and the CID did not … Continue reading
We’re back, catching up
Perhaps you’ve noticed that the postings have been a bit behind. That’s because I’ve spent the last two weeks reading 2600 pages of page proofs for Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers 4th. Today I have to drive two hours to … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: A protective sweep doesn’t permit a look in a toilet tank
A protective sweep doesn’t permit a look in a toilet tank. United States v. Brown, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185187 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 29, 2018). Plaintiffs’ 1983 search case fails. There was probable cause for issuance of the search warrant … Continue reading
CA9: Using ruse to gain entry for civil investigation and surreptitious video recording was a “search,” but QI applies
The use of a ruse to get consent to enter plaintiff’s house to conduct a civil fraud investigation violated the Fourth Amendment. The surreptitious use of a video recorder was a “search.” However, it was not clearly established at the … Continue reading
Fortune: Harvard Law Just Released 6.5 Million Court Decisions Online
Fortune: Harvard Law Just Released 6.5 Million Court Decisions Online by Jeff John Roberts: In a significant milestone for public access to the law, the Library Innovation Lab at Harvard Law School on Monday published more than 40 million pages … Continue reading
NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board: Right to Know Act
NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board: Right to Know Act: Right to Know Act overview The Right to Know Act, in effect as of October 19, 2018, is made up of two components. The first outlines New York City Police Department … Continue reading
CA5: Unconditional guilty plea waives 4A claims
Even after Class v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 798 (2018), an unconditional guilty plea waives search and seizure claims. “So under Class, Torres may not raise a Fourth Amendment challenge on appeal, given his voluntary unconditional guilty plea. See … Continue reading
Off Topic: MA: Crime lab drug analyist’s misconduct coupled with state’s failure to disclose leads to dismissal of more cases
In the case involving the drug lab chemist’s theft of drugs and false reports, the Massachusetts SJC orders dismissal of other cases not already dismissed by the state for the combined effect of her actions and the state’s failure to … Continue reading
Website been down 44 hours because of server failure in Chicago server farm
Or so they say. It took a long time to recreate because of the 20,000+ posts that were there. And, the posts from October 5-8 were lost in the crash. I guess I’ll have redo those. This will stay at … Continue reading
The Atlantic: The Chicago Culture That Created Jason Van Dyke
The Atlantic: The Chicago Culture That Created Jason Van Dyke by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve: Judges who questioned the veracity of police testimony were considered disrespectful traitors and were treated as such.
Above the Law: Colonists Had More Protections From Unreasonable Government Searches Than We Do Now
Above the Law: Colonists Had More Protections From Unreasonable Government Searches Than We Do Now by Tyler Broker Blame the modern drug war and its erosion of Fourth Amendment guarantees.