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Recent Posts
- CA2: No 4A requirement for SWs being issued with notice to target
- CA6: Denying ptf access to his own bathroom during a search of his house stated 4A claim
- W.D.Mo.: Not exactly following the inventory policy doesn’t make it unreasonable under 4A
- GA: No IAC for not challenging complete cell phone download before search
- DNYUZ: CBP Workers Allegedly Used Government Databases to Spy on Exes, Crushes, and Colleagues
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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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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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)
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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)
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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
ND: Backpack removed from car before dog sniff couldn’t be searched based on dog’s alert on car
Probable cause was lacking to search a backpack removed from a vehicle shortly after the stop but before the dog alerted on the car. Search incident also did not apply: “In the absence of either a concern for officer safety, … Continue reading →
N.D.Iowa: Asking “What’s going on?” was not withdrawal of consent
The court adopts the R&R finding on the totality that defendant consented to a search of his backpack, despite some intoxication. His saying “What’s going on?” was not withdrawal of consent. United States v. Harden, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126242 … Continue reading →
CA1: Direct evidence and indirect inferences showed PC
“Lindsey argues that there was no probable cause to believe there was evidence of drug dealing on the cellphones because the affidavit offered ‘no direct evidence’ that the phones would contain evidence of any drug dealing and the ‘indirect’ evidence … Continue reading →
D.Ore.: 3 min. wait for backup here did not unreasonably extend traffic stop
Three minute wait for backup officer to arrive did not unreasonably extend the stop based on the articulated justification: “Officer Carney called and waited for a cover officer so that he could safely carry out the mission of the traffic … Continue reading →
Army: Consent to search was mere acquiescence to a claim of authority
Defendant’s consent to search his apartment was obtained after telling him that it was based on the death of his roommate in the parking lot. He was in “custody,” and this was mere acquiescence to a claim of authority. “In … Continue reading →
E.D.Mich.: Even with redactions, SW affidavit shows PC
Redacted search warrant application showed probable cause even with redactions. United States v. Rivers, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104195 (E.D. Mich. June 3, 2021). The officer had called for a tow truck for defendant’s car and an inventory was inevitable, … Continue reading →
D.Md.: State’s DoIT owns and controls state computers and can enter computers and offices for access; no REP in state computer
The State of Maryland’s Department of Information Technology owns and controls the computers on its network and has the authority to enter offices to enter computers. Here, child pornography was found. Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the … Continue reading →
CA9: Body cam video of unreasonable warrantless entry to house should have been suppressed; but harmless
The warrantless entry into defendant’s house and body cam recording of him violated the Fourth Amendment. The other evidence, however, was overwhelming, so was harmless. United States v. Holiday, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 15884 (9th Cir. May 27, 2021). Where … Continue reading →
CO: Prescription bottles in car door weren’t subject to plain view search
There was no justification for officers to pull prescription bottles from the door of his car during a traffic stop and manipulate them. Plain view didn’t support the seizure and search because the incriminating nature wasn’t immediately apparent even on … Continue reading →
D.N.J.: Owner of house consented to search of guest’s room
The consenter had control over the entire premises defendant was visiting, and that included the bedroom he was staying in. It was reasonable for the officers to believe he had control over the entire premises. Moreover, defendant didn’t object to … Continue reading →
NY, Bronx: A tracking warrant isn’t an eavesdropping warrant
Defendant had standing to challenge a tracking warrant on his phone despite the state’s claim that wasn’t the cause for his arrest. He was tracked. These were not eavesdropping warrants. “Because the location information provided pursuant to the warrant did … Continue reading →
TX14: Broad consent to search home included surveillance system
A broad consent to search a home includes the surveillance system. Hart v. State, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 3784 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) May 13, 2021). “Considering that knowledge of the ability to refuse consent is not a … Continue reading →
TX13: Truck mechanic conducted private search of flash drive found in door
Defendant took his pickup truck in for service at the local Ford dealer. While working on the truck, the mechanic found a flash drive in the door pocket and plugged it into the diagnostic laptop plugged into defendant’s truck. Instead … Continue reading →
NY2: Def’s driving over officer’s legs and ankles was attenuated from his alleged illegal stop
Defendant driving over the officer’s legs and ankles was attenuated from his alleged illegal stop. People v. Contreras, 2021 NY Slip Op 03048, 2021 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3144 (2d Dept. May 12, 2021). “The County Court properly found that … Continue reading →
CA9: Going directly into pockets exceeded frisk power
Where the officer stood defendant up and turned him around, defendant was seized. Going directly into defendant’s pockets to search exceeded the power of a frisk. United States v. Brown, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 14015 (9th Cir. May 12, 2021). … Continue reading →
IL: ER blood draw was private search, and results were obtainable by process
Defendant’s ER blood draw after he was admitted for an accident was by a private actor, and the results are obtainable by the state and admissible. People v. Mueller, 2021 IL App (2d) 190868, 2021 Ill. App. LEXIS 227 (May … Continue reading →
E.D.N.C.: Nexus can be established by inference
Nexus may be established by inference and not direct evidence. United States v. White, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85454 (E.D. N.C. Mar. 17, 2021). Plaintiff was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors. Probable cause for one mooted consideration of the … Continue reading →
PA: Asking for consent while DL and registration in hand unreasonably extended stop
Defendant’s alleged excessive nervousness during a traffic stop caused the officer to have him get out of the car after the warrant check came back clean. He had defendant’s DL and registration in hand when he asked for consent, and … Continue reading →
CA10: Def’s father’s consent to enter house was voluntary
Defendant’s father consented to officers’ entry into their house, so defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights were not violated. United States v. Guillen, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 12468 (10th Cir. Apr. 27, 2021). “While Artola putting his arm into Wheeler’s car may … Continue reading →
AZ: Failure to include SW and affidavit in record for appeal is waiver
Defendant waived the Fourth Amendment claim about the search of his blood by not including the search warrant and its application in the appellate record. It is thus presumed to support the trial court’s decision. State v. Gomez, 2021 Ariz. … Continue reading →