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- W.D.Pa.: No jurisdiction for class claim against TSA seizures of cash
- OH4: Inventory found pretextual
- OR: Accidentally omitted warrant from email results in suppressing search despite finding of PC and particularity
- 404 Media: With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet
- D.Colo.: Prospective relief against judge-authorized administrative warrants denied
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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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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)
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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) -
“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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew -
"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: Issue preclusion
OR: Accidentally omitted warrant from email results in suppressing search despite finding of PC and particularity
The officer emailed to the magistrate the affidavit for warrant and he thought the warrant, too. The magistrate emailed back saying she found probable cause and authorized the search. A day or two later, the officer realized the warrant was … Continue reading
D.Colo.: Prospective relief against judge-authorized administrative warrants denied
Plaintiff was the subject of an administrative warrant issued by a neutral and detached magistrate. The request for prospective relief is denied, and the complaint is dismissed. Waldrop v. Colo. Dep’t of Agric., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27532 (D. Colo. … Continue reading
CA6: Stone requires that a habeas petitioner had a method to make 4A claims, not that they would succeed
Petitioner had his opportunity to litigate his Fourth Amendment claim in state court and did, and the outcome doesn’t matter. The fact that he could do so does. CoA denied. Bugno v. Walters, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3780 (6th Cir. … Continue reading
OH6: Search claim resolved in criminal case is collateral estoppel in forfeiture
This is a forfeiture after defendant lost his search claim in his criminal case. The search issue is res judicata or collateral estoppel in the forfeiture. State v. Pitts, 2026-Ohio-292 (6th Dist. Jan. 30, 2026). Defendant’s superseding indictment raising the … Continue reading
AR: Asking for SW before opening the door is not obstructing governmental operations
Asking for a search warrant before opening the door is not obstructing governmental operations. The motion for directed verdict should have been granted. This is not active resistance. Keeton v. State, 2026 Ark. App. 53 (Jan. 28, 2026). The Heck … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: The exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to grand jury evidence
Under Calandra (1974), there’s no basis for dismissing an indictment because it might be based on an illegal search. The search was valid anyway because it was based on the consenter’s apparent authority. United States v. Jones, 2026 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
GA: Cell phone dropped in flight from police was abandoned
Defendant abandoned the cell phone he dropped in flight from the police which he failed to return for. Franklin v. State, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 20 (Jan. 21, 2026).* Defendant filed his first post-conviction claim not mentioning ineffective assistance for not … Continue reading
ID: Time on seized video was erroneous and it was within particularity of SW
The search warrant for a GoPro video was valid based on the time of the search shown on the video being erroneous. Practical accuracy is the touchstone, and the correct time could be reconstructed. The warrant was particular. State v. … Continue reading
OH5: Ohio recognizes Groh incorporation by reference for particularity
Ohio recognizes Groh incorporation by reference for particularity. State v. Starcher, 2026-Ohio-15, 2026 Ohio App. LEXIS 11 (5th Dist. Jan. 6, 2026). In a civil case, the reference to Fourth Amendment was a typo for Fourteenth. It will be considered … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Someone doesn’t have to be home to execute a SW
It isn’t a proper Fourth Amendment challenge for a warrant not to be executed because no one is home. Rodriguez-Ferreira v. Sweeney, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 560 (D.N.J. Jan. 5, 2026). Defense counsel objected to the search warrant twice on … Continue reading
KY: Def needs to make a record on how long the drug dog extended the stop under Rodriguez
The drug dog arrived while the traffic tickets were still being written. All the record shows is that. The record doesn’t “reveal how much time elapsed between the canine’s arrival and it alerting to the odor of unlawful drugs emanating … Continue reading
CA9: Evidence seized by state not taken or used by feds not subject to Rule 41(g)
State officers seized defendant’s Rolex watch in a search, and there was a federal prosecution, but the watch was never part of it nor evidence of anything. Thus, Rule 41(g) affords him no relief here. There’s no constructive federal possession … Continue reading
LA2: Posse Comitatus Act has nothing to do with a vehicle accident
The Posse Comitatus Act has nothing to do with a vehicle accident with the Arkansas National Guard returning to Arkansas after helping with cleanup after Hurricane Ida. Bowman v. Williams, 2025 La. App. LEXIS 2333 (La App. 2 Cir. Dec. … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: Neither RS nor PC required for electronics search at border
Neither reasonable suspicion or probable cause is required for a border search of electronic equipment. Here, it was at Newark airport. United States v. Bill, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234680 (E.D. Mo. Dec. 2, 2025). Defendant who had 19 prior … Continue reading
MT: Losing 4A claim on post-conviction is collateral estoppel in legal malpractice action
Losing a Fourth Amendment claim on post-conviction is collateral estoppel in a legal malpractice action. Benton v. Babcock, 2025 MT 277, 2025 Mont. LEXIS 1461 (Dec. 2, 2025). “The search warrant application contained sufficient information to support a reasonable belief … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: ICE detention of asylum claimant was without PC and due process and it’s unrebutted
Petitioner is an Iranian national here under a claim of asylum. He was arrested and detained by ICE agents on the street. His Fourth Amendment and due process claims over his detention are unrebutted by the government and taken as … Continue reading
Five on habeas
The district court granted a limited CoA in this 2254 appeal. Petitioner doesn’t get to expand it to a consensual recording issue [that is frivolous]. Sontay v. Heidle, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 30613 (6th Cir. Nov. 21, 2025).* 2241 petitioner’s … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: SW for cell phone at border after warrantless search was reasonable
CBP seized and searched defendant’s cell phones at the border under existing authority. After subsequent case law called that into question, the government sought a search warrant for the phones disclosing all the facts. The subsequent warrant was valid. United … Continue reading
FL4: Welfare check not unreasonable just because a crime might also be involved
A 911 call about a potential impaired driver with kids in the car justified the officer’s interaction with the defendant. A welfare community caretaking check isn’t unreasonable just because it’s intertwined with a potential crime. Children can’t be expected to … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: A cell phone number in SW papers isn’t reason to seal them
The government doesn’t provide justification for sealing this search warrant application merely because there are cell phone number in it. It is presumptively a public record. In re Matter of Application by United States for Search Warrant to Search, 2025 … Continue reading