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- Reason: Border Agents Search Phones Without Warrants. This Case Asks the Supreme Court if That’s Constitutional
- The Economist: Why licence-plate readers are angering Americans
- N.D.Cal.: Typo in list of crimes being investigated in affidavit for SW could be overlooked
- MN: Risk of destruction of evidence was exigency for seizure of cell phone
- CA4: Use of a cell-site simulator to locate def was a search under the 4A
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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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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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)
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“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] -
“Children grow up thinking the adult world is ordered, rational, fit for purpose. It’s crap. Becoming a man is realising that it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness, that’s freedom.”
– John le Carré, The Night Manager (1993), line by Richard Roper -
"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
E.D.Tex.: Govt failed to prove traffic offenses or any RS for stop
There was no justification for defendant’s traffic stop based on two statutes that weren’t violated. The government’s assertion of reasonable suspicion from an anonymous tip also failed. United States v. Salazar, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 234747 (E.D. Tex. Dec. 12, … Continue reading →
CA10: Traffic stop to flirt with motorist was unreasonable, and clearly established that cause needed
The officer’s stop of plaintiff to flirt with her was without basis and thus unreasonable, and clearly established. Shepherd v. Robbins, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 36056 (10th Cir. Dec. 13, 2022) [corrected Dec. 28, 2022]. Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for … Continue reading →
D.Minn.: Issuance of an arrest warrant can justify a tracking warrant for suspect
“The Court agrees with essential premise of the R&R: that probable cause existed for the tracking warrant because there was probable cause for the arrest warrant. First, Mr. Ellerman cites no authority for the idea that using a judicially approved … Continue reading →
FL4: Collective knowledge doctrine with anonymous or confidential sources requires passing details on to fellow officer
When the collective knowledge rule applies to information from an anonymous or confidential source, the officer using the information has to have actual knowledge of the factors supporting its reliability. Zarcadoolas v. Tony, 2023 Fla. App. LEXIS 26 n.3 (Fla. … Continue reading →
D.Minn.: Placing GPS on vehicle 2.5 hours before SW issued didn’t require suppression
“This Court concludes that the supporting affidavit for the GPS tracking warrant establishes probable cause.” “Here, it is undisputed that when the GPS tracking device was placed on the gold Chevy Tahoe at approximately 5:00 p.m. on March 3, 2022, … Continue reading →
Nevada recognizes a private right of action for violation of the state constitution’s search and seizure guarantee
Nevada recognizes a private right of action for violation of the state constitution’s search and seizure guarantee. Plaintiff sued in federal court for a strip search going into a prison that produced nothing and also resulted in her being barred … Continue reading →
S.D.Ill.: Overheard comment CI would be harmed was RS for stop
Overheard information that defendant was traveling to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to harm a CI was reasonable suspicion for his stop. When a dog alerted, too, that permitted a search anywhere in the car where drugs could be hidden. United States … Continue reading →
CA4: When officer asked to pat him down, def raised his arms, and that’s consent
When the officer asked to pat him down, defendant raised his arms. That was consent. There was also reasonable suspicion. United States v. Pentecost, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 34656 (4th Cir. Dec. 15, 2022).* “[I]n-home interviews are presumptively non-custodial.” United … Continue reading →
D.S.C.: “The victim’s lack of cooperation alone does not vitiate probable cause.”
Once probable cause arose, “The victim’s lack of cooperation alone does not vitiate probable cause.” Ebersole v. Lex Co Pub. Defs. Office, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 224874 (D.S.C. Nov. 22, 2022). The leaseholder was a co-resident and she had the … Continue reading →
CA6: Def’s consent to search included a later dog sniff
Defendant consented to an original search for drugs. The vehicle was moved elsewhere and a dog sniff occurred. His consent carried over to the dog sniff. United States v. Rodgers, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 34250 (6th Cir. Dec. 12, 2022). … Continue reading →
NJ: CI’s identity not material to a civil case over arson
This is a subrogation claim over a fire caused by arson. Padilla was convicted. The civil case resulted in getting discovery of the DA’s file. After that, the name of a CI for a search warrant was sought, and it … Continue reading →
MD: Consent to search computer was withdrawn before search
Defendant signed a consent to search his computer hard drive to the US Army CID, but, once lawyered up, he effectively withdrew the consent a week later. The hard drive was searched after the withdrawal of consent, and the search … Continue reading →
IN: Juvenile’s blood draw by consent without statutory parental notification suppressed
The juvenile’s consent to a blood draw was without parental notification as required by statute, and it was expressed as a mere formality. The blood draw is suppressed. L.W. v. State, 2022 Ind. App. LEXIS 379 (Nov. 23, 2022). Defendant’s … Continue reading →
AF: Download of CP via Kik app permitted search of other storage devices it could have been transferred to
In this child pornography case, the initial probable cause was downloading it via the Kik app. The warrant included other electronic devices. Defendant’s argument that only smartphones could be searched is rejected. It was logical that images could have been … Continue reading →
M.D.Fla.: Lack of a notary seal on state SW papers is a frivolous 4A issue
The Fourth Amendment argument that lack of a notary seal on Florida search warrant papers makes it void is frivolous. Amalfitano v. United States, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 209729 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 18, 2022). An officer using a dead man’s … Continue reading →
S.D.W.Va.: Dispatch’s mistake of fact def’s vehicle was unregistered did not make stop unreasonable
Defendant challenged one basis for his stop, an inspection sticker. However, dispatch also said the vehicle was unregistered and that’s a valid reason. It turned out, however, it was validly registered. “It does not matter that Defendant’s vehicle was in … Continue reading →
IL: Smell of burnt mj alone not RS
The smell of burnt cannabis without seeing more is not reasonable suspicion in Illinois. People v. Redmond, 2022 IL App (3d) 210524, 2022 Ill. App. LEXIS 479 (Nov. 15, 2022). On an Anders brief, the inventory search of defendant’s car … Continue reading →
N.D.Ind.: The exclusionary rule is not the remedy for a high-speed chase to capture defendant
The exclusionary rule is not the remedy for a high-speed chase to capture defendant. United States v. Tyms, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 204894 (N.D. Ind. Nov. 10, 2022) Defendant was finally in custody when the police sought to take his … Continue reading →
NY2: Trial court didn’t deny due process by deciding suppression motion on a ground not argued by state, except for being just wrong on the law
The trial court did not deny due process by deciding the suppression issue on an alternative ground not advanced by the state below. The problem is, however, that the record does not support the result below, and it is reversed. … Continue reading →
GA: Consent to search backpack included laptop inside when def didn’t object
Defendant clearly consented to a search of his backpack. When the officer encountered his laptop and opened it to turn it on, defendant never objected. Winslow v. State, 2022 Ga. LEXIS 297 (Nov. 2, 2022). The underlying facts for reasonable … Continue reading →