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Recent Posts
- W.D.Wash.: DNA warrant isssued with PC not quashed before execution
- S.D.Ohio: Defense of denial of possession in drug case meant no assertion of standing to challenge the search, so no IAC
- N.D.Okla.: Anticipatory tracking warrant for money counter is without authority and nexus is speculative even if not
- CA9: Supervised release condition of financial disclosure permitted under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and didn’t violate 4A
- N.D.Ohio: Refusing discovery on 4A grounds in forfeiture case results in no standing
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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)
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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: Reasonable expectation of privacy
D.Conn.: Govt’s mere allegation def has possessory interest in package doesn’t give him standing; he still has to show it
Defendant can’t rely on the government’s representation they believe he has a possessory interest in a parcel. He has to show it, and here he did not. United States v. Franco, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18256 (D. Conn. Feb. 3, … Continue reading
CA1: No REP in guns hidden in house def wasn’t welcome at when he returned after being kicked out
Defendant stayed in a house with a domestic partner and her son until he was kicked out. He returned to assault her and hide guns there. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the premises. United States v. John, … Continue reading
USA Today: A camera mounted on a light pole took video of police beating Tyre Nichols. What to know about ‘SkyCop.’
USA Today: A camera mounted on a light pole took video of police beating Tyre Nichols. What to know about ‘SkyCop.’ by Claire Thornton:
E.D.Cal.: Def had standing in car he was driving with permission of owner
As the driver of the car and the person with lawful possession, defendant had standing to challenge the search of the car he didn’t own. The GPS warrant for it was based on probable cause, and the warrant for firearms … Continue reading
D.Mass.: No REP in video surveillance in an apartment building hallway that covered def’s door
“Defendants may have held a subjective expectation that activity in and around the doorway of the apartment would remain private but such an expectation was not objectively reasonable because their activity took place in a common area exposed to the … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: No REP in CP; AOL did a private search sending to NCMEC
AOL reported potential child porn to NCMEC, and that was within its terms of service. That was a private search. Moreover, “[t]his Court concludes that society has decided the interest in ‘privately’ possessing child pornography is illegitimate. Opening the image … Continue reading
NY2: SW papers provided to GJ aren’t discoverable because of GJ secrecy
Defendant sought search warrant materials presented to the grand jury. Denied because of grand jury secrecy. Sculti v. Finley, 2022 NY Slip Op 06950, 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6820 (2d Dept. Dec. 7, 2022). Defendant had no standing in … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Parole search can occur when parolee not home
Defendant was on state parole living with his girlfriend, also a defendant. They were out and her mother was their babysitter in the home. Parole came by for a compliance check. The mother let them in. First, the search was … Continue reading
MS: Using ladder to look over wall in rented storage unit wasn’t a “search” and did not violate any REP
Officers used a ladder to look over a ceilingless wall in a storage building into defendant’s leased unit. The observation led to a search warrant. Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy from that look because anyone there could do … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Def did not abandon backpack by hiding it nearby in bushes; he retained control
Defendant was at a McDonald’s with friends outside a car. When he saw the police, he put his backpack in the bushes to hide it while remaining nearby. He also went back to it to push it deeper into the … Continue reading
IL: No REP in bloody clothes in trauma room at hospital
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a trauma room he was in about 15 minutes before the police arrived. His bloody clothes were in plain view. People v. Turner, 2022 IL App (5th) 190329, 2022 Ill. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
D.Md.: Using def’s key fob to find his car did not violate a REP
Using defendant’s key fob on the key removed from him in a search incident did not violate any reasonable expectation of privacy and was reasonable. United States v. Gardner, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 196575 (D. Md. Oct. 27, 2022):
CA9: Chalking tires not a 4A violation
Disagreeing with the Sixth Circuit, the Ninth holds that chalking tires does not violate the Fourth Amendment. It was going on for nearly a century before anyone challenged it. Verdun v. City of San Diego, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 29803 … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Eviction of unruly hotel guest is loss of REP in room as soon as decision is made, even without statute authorizing it
Eviction of an unruly guest from a motel or hotel results in a loss of the renter’s reasonable expectation of privacy even if there is no statute governing it. Thus, the proprietor can hand over the keys to the police … Continue reading
CA4: Bank robbery def abandoned the getaway car and his cell phone in it
“[T]he district court did not clearly err by finding that Pridgen abandoned the getaway vehicle and his cell phone, and, thus, the court did not err by finding that he lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in those items when … Continue reading
D.V.I.: Govt couldn’t prove helicopter flyover was 1000′ or more; suppressed
The government flew a helicopter over defendant’s property to photograph a suspected marijuana grow. It could not provide testimony that the helicopter was flown at 1000′ or above in navigable air space. Defendant had a subjected expectation of privacy against … Continue reading
CT: Action to quash SW before criminal case became moot when charge filed
The petitioner sought to quash search warrants when there was no criminal case. After the criminal cases were finally filed, this action was moot because the claim could be brought within the criminal cases. In re Police Case Nos.: Meriden … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: Dog sniff in apt building breezeway violated no REP, and it was moot anyway
On the totality, there was probable cause for cell phone search warrants. One can attempt to explain away the pieces, but the totality shows it. A dog sniff in the breezeway of an apartment complex violated no reasonable expectation of … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: University exam proctor’s requirement of room scan before video test violates REP under 4A
The proctor of this university examination on video required a room scan to prove the student was alone. The room scan violated plaintiff’s reasonable expectation of privacy. CSU’s reliance on Wyman v. James is rejected. That case is 51 years … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Using an alias to rent a hotel room is not a waiver of a REP in it
The use of an alias to rent a hotel room doesn’t forfeit a reasonable expectation of privacy in it. The warrantless entry here was unreasonable. United States v. Henning, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147239 (S.D. W. Va. Aug. 17, 2022). … Continue reading