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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 -
Latest Slip Opinions:
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Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
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Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
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S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
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General (many free):
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Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
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
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
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. 
Category Archives: Uncategorized
N.D.Cal.: Conversations outside courthouse were entitled to REP [on reconsideration]
Surreptitious recordings outside the San Mateo courthouse of persons talking amongst themselves were entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy because they talked such that others could not overhear them except with planted recording devices. The court will conduct a … Continue reading
Leading candidate for case name of the year
United States v. Zachary Stanley Knows His Gun, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160429 (D.Mont. Nov. 2, 2016)
Treatise 30% off through 1/5 — semi annual supplements start 7/1
Instead of $473, it’s $331. Also, in a new program by Lexis, supplements to this book will be issued twice a year starting in June or July which also means the Lexis version of the book will be far more … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Affidavit and warrant for Anthony Weiner’s and Huma Abedin’s laptop computer posted on court’s website
Considering the public’s right of access to judicial materials, concisely explained by the court, a redacted version of the search warrant for Anthony Weiner’s and Huma Abedin’s laptop computer is filed on the S.D.N.Y.’s website (affidavit and warrant here). In … Continue reading
Seattle Times: Oregon study finds racial disparities in drug convictions
Seattle Times: Oregon study finds racial disparities in drug convictions by AP: That conviction disparity held true in methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine cases statewide, according to a study by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission.
Mississippi adopts new Rule of Criminal Procedure, search and seizure in Rule 4
In re Adoption of Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 524 (Dec. 13, 2016)
Bill of Rights Day — 225 years ago today the Bill of Rights was ratified
In a 50 lb meth conspiracy jury trial
So postings will be erratic. Some already written ahead to post later.
MO: Def’s rejection of consent by reference to lawyer was not invocation of lawyer for later statement
“However, assuming arguendo, Defendant partially invoked his Fifth Amendment rights by saying, ‘I ain’t signing shit without my attorney,’ in response to a request to search his home, his right to counsel still was not violated. The mere utterance of … Continue reading
Law.com (editorial): Lawyers Must Be Ready to Fight for the Rule of Law
Law.com (editorial): Lawyers Must Be Ready to Fight for the Rule of Law: It remains to be seen whether the rule of law will be upheld as it has been in the past, or whether it will be betrayed from … Continue reading
Miami New Times: Miami Gardens Cop Says He Was Fired for Reporting Illegal Stop-and-Frisks
Miami New Times: Miami Gardens Cop Says He Was Fired for Reporting Illegal Stop-and-Frisks by Brittany Shammas: Between 2008 and 2013, Miami Gardens Police ran what one public defender called ‘New York City stop-and-frisk on steroids.’…Now a former Miami Gardens … Continue reading
Police One: How license plate readers are helping one California PD catch more criminals [a paid ad on PoliceOne.com by the seller]
Police One: How license plate readers are helping one California PD catch more criminals by PoliceOne BrandFocus Staff Police in La Verne use fixed LPR cameras to create a virtual fence around the city The following is paid content sponsored … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Cell phone could be searched at border on finding of cocaine in car
Finding 16.52 kg of cocaine in a car at the border was probable cause, and seizure of the defendant’s cell phone was proper. Therefore, it did not matter whether or not the cell phone was “forensically” searched or “cursorily” searched … Continue reading
FourthAmendment.com makes 10th Annual ABA Journal’s Blawg100 (now two years in a row)
The tally of law blogs in our directory has topped 4,000. We present to you our latest roundup of the 100 most compelling ones. Described thusly: FourthAmendment.com The evidentiary rules of search and seizure—and the police power to carry out … Continue reading
Treatise 30% off through 12/2 11:59pt
Treatise 30% off through 12/2 11:59pt, see here.
The Hill: Leaked immigration proposal could affect all foreigners in US
The Hill: Leaked immigration proposal could affect all foreigners in US by Raphael Bernal:
HuffPo: Jeff Sessions Was Deemed Too Racist To Be A Federal Judge. He’ll Now Be Trump’s Attorney General.
HuffPo: Jeff Sessions Was Deemed Too Racist To Be A Federal Judge. He’ll Now Be Trump’s Attorney General. by Ryan Reilly: WASHINGTON ― The man who President-elect Donald Trump will nominate as the 84th attorney general of the United States … Continue reading
The Marshall Project: 8 Ways Jeff Sessions Could Change Criminal Justice
The Marshall Project: 8 Ways Jeff Sessions Could Change Criminal Justice by Eli Hager, Alsia Santo and Simone Weischselbaum: From police to prosecutions to prisons, the AG holds wide sway.
W.D.N.Y.: When a state search warrant is used in federal court, state officers retain the evidence pending trial
Suspected explosives shipped to defendant’s address and search finding them in the garage didn’t preclude searching the house as well since the package was shipped to defendant’s home. Because a state search warrant was executed, state officers were charged with … Continue reading
FLETC training website link added
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources added to the research materials on the right side Be sure to check your state law enforcement training schedules. In Arkansas, first year training includes 2 hours on search and seizure law. I did … Continue reading