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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 -
© 2003-25,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 500,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 47,000 posts since 2003 (30,000+ on WordPress as of 12/31/24) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
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Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
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Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
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State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
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S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
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General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
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Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
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)
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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)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
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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 -
"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: Consent
MI: PC for SW completely lacking, so no GFE
“As noted by dissenting Judge Garrett, the search-warrant affidavit failed to connect the firearms and firearm-related items listed in the search warrant with the suspected criminal activity. Therefore, there was not probable cause to believe ‘that contraband or evidence of … Continue reading →
NC: Admin. tax warrant search of house violated 4A
Search under a general administrative tax warrant under state law violates the Fourth Amendment. This involved a search of a house where the taxes were not paid on illegal drugs. Also, it was issued by the Secretary of Revenue and … Continue reading →
N.D.Tex.: Merely being a federal contractor doesn’t make employer’s search state action
Being a federal contractor wasn’t enough to make defendant food service company a state actor. Ellis v. Ben E. Keith Co., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217957 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 1, 2025). Officers had a warrant for the place searched and … Continue reading →
W.D.Ky.: No requirement cell phone search protocol be specified in the SW
There is no requirement in the Sixth Circuit for a cell phone search protocol to be specified in the search warrant. United States v. Lanham, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202782 (W.D. Ky. Oct. 14, 2025). There was probable cause defendant … Continue reading →
D.Minn.: Def’s lies supported finding of consent to search
Despite defendant having some cognitive difficulties, the court concludes his lies to the officer before consenting still supported consent. The ability to lie shows knowledge. United States v. Lumbert, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 201199 (D. Minn. Aug. 13, 2025):
CT: No REP in DNA recovered from trash search that connected def to a 36-year-old cold case
Defendant became a suspect in 2020 for cold cases from 1984. A trash search produced a discarded belt that was DNA tested, seemingly matching him to the 1984 crimes. A confirmatory test was done by warrant. Defendant had no reasonable … Continue reading →
S.D.N.Y.: Legal mail can be copied for inmate to guard against disguised legal mail
Prisons can copy legal mail in presence of the inmate to guard against contraband coming in disguised as legal mail. Prisoners’ Legal Servs. of N.Y. v. United States Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 195443 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 5, … Continue reading →
HI: No REP in IP information
There is no Fourth Amendment protection in one’s subscriber information provided to a third-party internet service provider and its link to an IP address. State v. Brown, 2025 Haw. LEXIS 268 (Sep. 30, 2025).* The state contends defendant had no … Continue reading →
C.D.Cal.: Handcuffing an inmate is not a 4A violation
“Plaintiff’s only purported basis for a Fourth Amendment claim is a vague assertion that ‘handcuff/restraints = false report.’ (Compl. at 6). Liberally construed, this appears to suggest that Plaintiff allegedly was seized without sufficient cause. In the prison context, however, … Continue reading →
D.S.C.: Police and issuing magistrate having same address doesn’t make judge not neutral and detached
Just because the issuing magistrate and the police department share the same address does not prove that the magistrate was not neutral and detached. More is required. Lafoy v. O’Brien, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190411 (D.S.C. Aug. 18, 2025). “Even … Continue reading →
TX2: Asking for consent four times doesn’t make it coercive
The fact defendant was asked four times for consent doesn’t make it coercive. Arnold v. State, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 7228 (Tex. App. – Ft. Worth Sep. 11, 2025). Velez finally contends that no reasonable officer could have concluded that … Continue reading →
W.D.Wash.: Hiding a small pouch in another’s car was not abandonment; he retained a REP
Defendant’s hiding a small pouch in another person’s car was not abandonment. He otherwise manifested a reasonable expectation of privacy in it. United States v. Jensen, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170474 (W.D. Wash. Sep. 2, 2025). Defendant’s encounter with the … Continue reading →
E.D.Cal.: Excessive prison strip search sufficiently alleged
Prison strip search: “Here, liberally construed, it appears plaintiff may be able to state a Fourth Amendment claim against the defendants who stripped plaintiff naked where it is alleged that plaintiff was brought to the ASU from the program office … Continue reading →
MD: Pretext inquiry under state constitution same as 4A
Appellant shows no basis for construing pretextual stops under the state constitution differently than the Fourth Amendment. Riley v. State, 2025 Md. App. LEXIS 727 (Aug. 27, 2025).* Defendant’s encounter with the officer here after one with mall security was … Continue reading →
D.N.M.: Def’s consent to search vehicle permitted partial dismantling and use of x-ray
Defendant’s consent to a full search of his vehicle included dismantling parts of it and using a portable x-ray to look in closed spaces. United States v. Talamante-Sanchez, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168814 (D.N.M. Aug. 29, 2025). Plaintiff sovereign citizen’s … Continue reading →
NJ: Seeing def enter phone passcode in officer’s presence wasn’t unreasonable seizure
Officer seeing defendant enter cell phone passcode violated no reasonable expectation of privacy or Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. State v. Ellison, 2025 N.J. Super. LEXIS 60 (Aug. 19, 2025). Update: NJ Panel Upholds Use Of Phone Passcode Seen By … Continue reading →
CA8: Consent still found although def had to be wrestled to be handcuffed because of gun involved
Defendant was a Greyhound passenger from LA to KC, and a dog got a whiff of his fanny pack and alerted. He admitted marijuana was in the bag. Then a gun, which led to a struggle when he wouldn’t keep … Continue reading →
OH6: Refusing consent to search cell phone can’t be sentencing aggravator
Defendant had a constitutional right to refuse consent to search his cell phone, and the trial court erred by considering that as an aggravating factor in sentencing. State v. Dawes, 2025-Ohio-2576, 2025 Ohio App. LEXIS 2500 (6th Dist. July 22, … Continue reading →
D.C.Cir.: Officer saying he had “warrants” required remand for whether consent was mere acquiescence
The district court erred in not considering whether defendant acquiesced in consenting to a search. The officer said he had “warrants,” but there was no clarification whether it was an arrest warrant or search warrant. Reversed. United States v. Glover, … Continue reading →
CA3: Driveway was not curtilage
Defendant’s driveway was not curtilage, so his stop and ultimate search of the car was not in violation of the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Moses, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 16484 (3d Cir. July 3, 2025). De minimis force, even … Continue reading →