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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com© 2003-23,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 350,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (25,700+ on WordPress as of 12/31/22)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $Research Links:
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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)
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
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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“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)“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"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]“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
"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."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
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Category Archives: Abstention
CA3: Federal court should abstain from entering state court red-flag proceeding
Federal court should abstain under Younger from a state red-flag law proceeding to remove firearms from the plaintiff. Greco v. Bruck, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 33660 (3d Cir. Nov. 12, 2021). Defendant’s being in an alley known for druggies and … Continue reading
W.D.Mich.: 1983 suit over state detention without bond barred by Younger abstention
Plaintiff detainee’s 1983 case he was being held without bond in a state prosecution is barred by Younger absention. Snowden v. Schipper, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76275 (W.D. Mich. Apr. 20, 2021). “Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Exigency for entry fails; officers knew victim was not there
The emergency aid justification for a warrantless entry into defendant’s house in a domestic dispute wasn’t applicable because there no longer was an emergency. The victim was safe elsewhere and nobody was home. Also, the good faith exception wasn’t proved … Continue reading
DC: Tacit approval for private search made it state action
Defendant was arrested in a rental car, and he claimed ownership of the bags in the trunk. The police gave tacit approval to the towing company employee’s search of the bags, thus making him an agent for the search. Fogg … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Vehicle stop based on the state’s Automated Vehicle Information System was reasonable
A vehicle stop based on the state’s Automated Vehicle Information System was justifiable and reasonable. United States v. Lawson, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198220 (E.D. Ky. Oct. 1, 2020). Plaintiff has the ability to litigate the search issues in state … Continue reading
CA11: Without Carpenter having already been made retroactive, it can’t support a successor habeas
Without Carpenter having already been made retroactive, it can’t support a successor habeas. In re Toth, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 29956 (11th Cir. Sept. 18, 2020). The record supports the district court’s conclusion defendant consented to the search of his … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: 1983 suit against facts of detention barred by Younger abstention
Plaintiff’s claims in substantial part attack the facts of his current detention, and it’s barred by Younger abstention. Mondragon v. County of San Diego, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155166 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 26, 2020)*:
E.D.Wash.: Connecting seized cell phone to internet not a search
Connecting already seized cell phone to the internet was not shown to be a search (citing no law). United States v. Murray, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136292 (E.D. Wash. July 2, 2020). 2255 claim that defense counsel was ineffective for … Continue reading
WA: Private party returning property to def’s house per request was private searcher
The observations of a private person returning something to defendant’s dwelling for him were a private search. The police had nothing to do with it. State v. Lake, 2020 Wash. App. LEXIS 1925 (June 30, 2020).* Reasonable jurists would not … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: State officer’s alleged 4A violation doesn’t permit removal of criminal case to federal court
Defendants removed their state criminal cases to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1443 based on claimed search and seizure issues. This isn’t a proper ground to remove, and they have a state law remedy. Texas v. Calzada, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
ND: Parole search of cell phone after def incarcerated reasonable
The parole search of defendant’s cell phone after he was incarcerated was valid. Here, the officers had reasonable suspicion. (The court saves for another day whether such a search without reasonable suspicion would be valid.) State v. Powley, 2020 ND … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: FIPF is continuing offense and reasonable inference is firearm would be kept at home
Felon in possession of a firearm is a continuing offense, and it’s reasonable to infer defendant would keep the firearm he was suspected of having in his home. That’s sufficient for nexus. United States v. Golden, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: The clear potential for violence in a volatile domestic disturbance was a continuing exigency
The clear potential for violence in a volatile domestic disturbance was exigency. “As is evident from the video, the exigency did not terminate due to the passage of time or as a result of [Off.] Sosenko’s attempts to manage the … Continue reading
CA11: § 1983 case can’t be used as substitute for state court appeal of a 4A claim
“Mr. Lynn does not raise a non-frivolous issue for appeal. Below, the District Court granted summary judgment to the defendant officers because it concluded Mr. Lynn’s Fourth Amendment claims were barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. … [¶] The District Court … Continue reading
CA9: Sexual groping during a prison search states 4A excessive force claim
It was clearly established that groping a (transgender) woman during prison searches was unreasonable as excessive force. Goff v. Ramirez, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 4876 (9th Cir. Feb. 13, 2020). (The plaintiff being transgender had nothing to do with the … Continue reading
CA6: FRCP 60(b) can’t be used to backdoor a successor habeas
Habeas petitioner’s attempt to use Rule 60(b) to attack the rejection of a Fourth Amendment claim was a backdoor successor habeas that doesn’t satisfy grounds for one. In re Henderson, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 4856 (6th Cir. Feb. 14, 2020)*:
CA11: The Heck bar is to the cause of action; it isn’t jurisdictional
The Heck bar is to the cause of action; it isn’t jurisdictional. Teagan v. City of McDonough, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 4055 (11th Cir. Feb. 11, 2020):
E.D.Mich.: Sole 4A question in § 2254 is fair opportunity to litigate, not correctness of result
Even an erroneous Fourth Amendment decision in state court does not overcome the Stone v. Powell bar in a § 2254. The question is the fair opportunity to litigate, not the result. Green v. Nagy, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16502 … Continue reading
CA9: Vacated and dismissed case on post-conviction doesn’t invoke Heck bar
Three men convicted in Alaska state court got their convictions vacated and dismissed when someone else confessed to the crime. The lack of a criminal judgment rendered the Heck bar inapplicable. Roberts v. City of Fairbanks, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
