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- CA7: Scrolling through def’s cell phone was a reasonable border search
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- D.Mont.: This ping warrant was based on PC and was not governed by Chatrie
- KY: Unrelated questions during ongoing traffic stop didn’t extend it under Rodriguez
- TX1: Defendant had no REP in a package of drugs he never possessed and on another person
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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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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)
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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. 
Category Archives: Privileges
LA4: When state fails to get a SW for def’s medical records, it doesn’t get a do over to fix it
In State v. Skinner, 10 So.3d 1212 (La. 2009), the state supreme court held that there was a state constitutional warrant requirement for defendant’s medical records. Failing to do it right can’t be cured by a later warrant after it’s … Continue reading
Draft article: Orin S. Kerr, Compelled Decryption and the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination
Orin S. Kerr, Compelled Decryption and the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, forthcoming in the Texas Law Review, available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3248286 Abstract:
D.Ariz.: When a criminal defense lawyer’s office was the target of a SW, a special master was appropriate
Defendant is a criminal defense lawyer, and his office was subjected to a search and some client files were seized. When a criminal defense lawyer is the target of the search, there are clear Sixth Amendment concerns. While courts often … Continue reading
IN: Order compelling owner of iPhone to unlock it violates 5A self-incrimination; the state is seeking to extract information from her mind
Defendant claimed she’d been sexually assaulted by her boyfriend. In investigating that, it turned into a stalking and harassment investigation of her. The state got a search warrant for her phone. When she wouldn’t unlock it, they sought a court … Continue reading
LA Times: ‘Technical error’ blamed for recordings of more than 1,000 attorney-inmate phone calls in O.C. jail
LA Times: ‘Technical error’ blamed for recordings of more than 1,000 attorney-inmate phone calls in O.C. jail by Hannah Fry:
OR: Property tax reassessment claim dismissed for refusal to permit inspection
Taxpayer’s property tax assessment appeal is dismissed for refusing an inspection of the property claiming a Fourth Amendment violation. He claimed the records of the assessor are incorrect, and the assessor wants to see whether that’s true. He was told … Continue reading
LA Times: Editorial: Bugging conversations between criminal defendants and their lawyers is bad news
LA Times: Editorial: Bugging conversations between criminal defendants and their lawyers is bad news: The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and under various court rulings that means government agents must first get warrants before listening in on … Continue reading
ID: Cell seizure of def’s notes for conversation with defense lawyer presumptively prejudicial; remanded to see if state can overcome prejudice and whether DA disqualified
Defendant was convicted of attempted murder. “While he was incarcerated prior to trial, Robins’s cell was searched and handwritten notes he had prepared in anticipation of a meeting with counsel were seized and delivered to the prosecuting attorney. The district … Continue reading
LA Times: Authorities recorded privileged attorney-client conversations, district attorney’s office says
LA Times: Authorities recorded privileged attorney-client conversations, district attorney’s office says by Nina Agrawal:
The Hill: Special master in Cohen case rejects more than a third of legal team’s privileged items
The Hill: Special master in Cohen case rejects more than a third of legal team’s privileged items by Aris Folley: According to court documents filed Thursday, Special master Barbara Jones found that 1,452 out of the 4,085 items designated privileged … Continue reading
MotherJones: A Private Prison Company Gave 1,300 Recordings of Confidential Inmate Phone Calls to Prosecutors
MotherJones: A Private Prison Company Gave 1,300 Recordings of Confidential Inmate Phone Calls to Prosecutors by Tonya Riley: Kansas’ US Attorney’s Office has admitted listening to opposing lawyers’ conversations. Securus, the company responsible for recording the calls, has already faced … Continue reading
DE: Search of jail cell seizing legal materials violated 6A; dismissal of indictment required
The search of defendant’s prison cell seizing his legal materials without judicial approval violated his Sixth Amendment rights, not his Fourth Amendment rights. The lead prosecutor in his case reviewed the legal materials. The state should have used a taint … Continue reading
MO: Recording def’s conversation with attorney in police station interview room violated 6A and privilege; mandamus granted against unsealing
Defendant’s attorney met him at the police station to confer, and they put them in an interview room which recorded their meeting. The trial court appointed a special master to review it. The recording violated defendant’s attorney-client privilege and right … Continue reading
MN: Seizure of blood sample by SW to a hospital doesn’t violate doctor-patient privielge
“The seizure of a patient’s blood sample pursuant to a search warrant addressed to a hospital does not violate the statutory physician-patient privilege because a blood sample collected by the hospital as part of medical treatment does not constitute ‘information’ … Continue reading
The Hill: We need a new law to protect lawyer-client communications
The Hill: We need a new law to protect lawyer-client communications by Alan Dershowitz: The Fifth Amendment merely prohibits the use of illegally obtained self-incriminatory information at the defendant’s criminal trial. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unlawful intrusions into the privacy … Continue reading
ABAJ: How will prosecutors handle privileged documents from Michael Cohen raids?
No, the attorney-client privilege isn’t dead, and neither is the crime fraud exception. ABAJ: How will prosecutors handle privileged documents from Michael Cohen raids? by Stephanie Francis Ward:
N.D.Cal.: Court orders target to open computer and phones under All Writs Act; no privilege bars order
Police seized a computer, hard drive, and iPhone that had been encrypted and password protected. The FBI couldn’t get in. The government applies for an order under the All Writs Act. The court finds that the Fifth Amendment testimonial privilege … Continue reading
W.D.Va.: Prisoner suit for recording attorney-client meetings survives 6A claim but 4A denied on QI
Plaintiff, a prison inmate, had his conversations with his lawyer in trial preparation recorded by prison officials. He sued for interference with his right to counsel and for a Fourth Amendment violation. Defendant’s summary judgment motion is denied on the … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Seizure of emails implicated A-C privilege and are subject to suppression
The defendant raised attorney-client privilege against the seizure of emails to lawyers and then CPAs retained by his tax lawyers. The former was determined to be waived. The latter, however, remained privileged. United States v. Adams, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading