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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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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 -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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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) -
“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!”
---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)
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Category Archives: GPS / Tracking Data
NC: Mere visitor on the premises shouldn’t have been searched without articulatable RS
Defendant was a visitor on the premises when a search warrant was executed. A full search of his person was unreasonable because there were no facts shown justifying a belief he was armed or dangerous. The dissents view would hollow … Continue reading
CA11: Even if warrantless monitoring of a package in def’s home violated 4A, inevitable discovery applies
Even if warrantless monitoring of a package into defendant’s house violated the Fourth Amendment, inevitable discovery applies. There was an intensive investigation and time was of the essence. The exclusionary rule should not be applied. United States v. Watkins, 2020 … Continue reading
NY3: CI showed PC; GPS warrant corroborated the CI
The CI appeared and testified to the probable cause. A separate search warrant for GPS tracking corroborated the CI. People v. Jackson, 2020 NY Slip Op 07251, 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7450 (3d Dept. Dec. 3, 2020). The CI … Continue reading
MA: Home confinement and GPS monitoring as a condition of release pending sentencing was reasonable
Home confinement after conviction but pending a motion for new trial was not an unreasonable seizure. It was discretionary on conviction. GPS monitoring as well was a search under Grady, but, on a balancing of interests, it was reasonable on … Continue reading
FL1: No REP in GPS installed in car def borrowed from a friend
Defendant had taken a car from a friend, and the car had a GPS installed by agreement between the owner and the finance company. The car owner didn’t know whether it had been stolen, and reported it to the police. … Continue reading
CT: Pretrial GPS monitoring didn’t violate right to counsel and is 4A reasonable
Pretrial GPS monitoring that can tell when the accused is at his attorney’s office doesn’t violate the right to counsel, and it’s reasonable when merely monitoring whether defendant is abiding by her pretrial travel restrictions. State v. Troconis, 2020 Conn. … Continue reading
GA: Even if GPS tracker was unconstitutionally placed, it didn’t affect later SW for vehicle
Defendant first claimed the vehicle was his when the officer asked, and he consented to a search of it. After a few loose rounds of ammunition were found, he disavowed ownership. It turned out there was also a tracking device … Continue reading
CNS: Seventh Circuit Examines Lifetime GPS Tracking of Sex Offender
CNS: Seventh Circuit Examines Lifetime GPS Tracking of Sex Offenders by Joe Kelly (“The Seventh Circuit on Friday weighed the intrusiveness of a Wisconsin statute that institutes lifetime GPS monitoring of certain convicted sex offenders against the necessity of preventing … Continue reading
CA9: There is no exhaustion requirement for other investigative techniques for a tracking warrant, but failure to adequately brief it is waiver anyway
The affidavit for this GPS tracking warrant said that other investigative techniques had been exhausted, and defendant claims it was false. “Colldock also contests the affidavit’s statement that law enforcement had, before seeking a GPS tracking warrant, ‘exhausted its investigative … Continue reading
Techdirt: Government’s ‘Reverse’ Warrant Rejected By Two Consecutive Federal Judges
Techdirt: Government’s ‘Reverse’ Warrant Rejected By Two Consecutive Federal Judges by Tim Cushing (“Warrants are supposed to have a certain amount of particularity. These warrants have none. All they have are some coordinates and a clock. Fortunately, as the EFF … Continue reading
FoxNews: Google CEO says tech giant deletes this information used by police
FoxNews: Google CEO says tech giant deletes this information used by police by Brooke Brothers (“Google now sets a time limit on data used by police for tracking suspects, the CEO said at Wednesday’s congressional hearing with tech giants. The … Continue reading
Slate: Customs and Border Protection Can Track Cars Nationwide Via Commercial Database
Slate: Customs and Border Protection Can Track Cars Nationwide Via Commercial Database by Hannah Klein (“It turns out that U.S. Customs and Border Protection could now keep an eye on your car without even getting a warrant. This month, we … Continue reading
AP: Geofence warrants to be tested in VA bank robbery case
AP: Geofence warrants to be tested in Virginia bank robbery case (“Surveillance video gave authorities a lead, showing a man holding a cellphone outside the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian on May 20, 2019. So like a growing number of … Continue reading
MD & NY2: Court ordered GPS tracking satisfied warrant requirement
Court ordered GPS tracking of a vehicle for up to 30 days under state statute satisfied the warrant requirement for its showing of probable cause before a neutral and detached magistrate. Whittington v. State, 2020 Md. App. LEXIS 621 (July … Continue reading
CNET: Geofence warrants: How police get data from all devices in targeted areas
CNET: Geofence warrants: How police get data from all devices in targeted areas by Alfred Ng (“The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is also challenging the constitutionality of geofence warrants in a Virginia case. The organization argues that geofence … Continue reading
NC: State fails to show need for satellite based monitoring of sex offender who won’t be released from prison until 2032
The state fails to show the need for constant satellite based monitoring for defendant convicted sex offender who won’t even be released from prison until 2032. State v. Gordon, 2020 N.C. App. LEXIS 205 (Mar. 17, 2020):
Protocol: Through apps, not warrants, ‘Locate X’ allows federal law enforcement to track phones
Protocol: Through apps, not warrants, ‘Locate X’ allows federal law enforcement to track phones by Charles Levinson (“Federal agencies have big contracts with Virginia-based Babel Street. Depending on where you’ve traveled, your movements may be in the company’s data.”)
IN: Warrant-placed GPS unit’s failure is not PC to believe defendant stole it
Just because a GPS device lawfully planted on a car stops working is not probable cause to believe the defendant stole it. The search warrant for his house and barn to recover it lacked all probable cause and any basis … Continue reading
OR: Car owner had no REP from GPS installed by his company before he got the car from them
Plaintiff worked for Toyota Motor Credit and Toyota Financial Services. When he severed his employment with them, he was allowed to keep the vehicle he used for them. Unbeknownst to him, Toyota Financial Services had a GPS device on the … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Venue for a motion for return of seized property is where the property was seized
Venue for a motion for return of seized property is where the property was seized, here the E.D. N.Y. United States v. Collado, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7873 (S.D. N.Y. Jan. 16, 2020). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not challenging … Continue reading