Archives
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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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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
E.D.Tenn.: Def wasn’t removed to avoid his being asked for consent under Randolph
The record doesn’t support defendant’s claim that he was removed to avoid his ability to object to consent under Randolph. In addition, his detention was otherwise objectively reasonable. United States v. Shaw, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35405 (E.D. Tenn. Feb. … Continue reading →
E.D.N.C.: Some deception to gain entry is permitted, but this one went too far
The government’s ruse that defendant’s name was being used to fraudulently get prescriptions to gain entry into his house made his consent involuntary. United States v. Burch, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35265 (E.D. N.C. Feb. 25, 2021):
DC: Putting one’s hand over officer’s to stop a patdown is withdrawal of consent
“The trial court erred as a matter of law in ruling that Mr. Ford’s actions did not revoke consent. An objectively reasonable officer would have understood Mr. Ford’s act of placing his hand on the outside of his pocket exactly … Continue reading →
AR: Officer letting himself in because it was raining after homeowner answered knock on door was not implied consent
The officer here came to the door and knocked. When the occupant opened the door, the officer entered because it was raining. The trial court found implied consent. The court of appeals disagrees. It was acquiescence. Abernathy v. State, 2021 … Continue reading →
D.Nev.: “Seeming[ly] strategic activation and deactivation of the body camera” leads to finding of no consent
“Seeming[ly] strategic activation and deactivation of the body camera” and less than credible testimony results in court finding government failed in proving consent. United States v. Carter, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33379 (D. Nev. Feb. 23, 2021):
D.N.H.: Police working forced security in a bar open area aren’t violating 4A
Plaintiffs run a bar, and they complain they were required to have police on duty and in the premises on certain nights. Without an allegation that the officers entered any part of the business that is private [such as an … Continue reading →
E.D.N.Y.: 6 am knock-and-talk was not unreasonable
A 6 am knock-and-talk was not shown to be unreasonable [on the totality] under Jardines. Defendant doesn’t claim that he was too sleepy to respond to them. United States v. Ofsink, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24933 (E.D. N.Y. Feb. 8, … Continue reading →
ME: 18 yo son could consent to police entry
Defendant’s 18 year old son living in the home was reasonably believed to have authority to consent to an entry. Then the officers went to find defendant. State v. Glenn, 2021 ME 7 (Jan. 28, 2021). In the direct appeal, … Continue reading →
CA10: Officers’ mistake of fact here undermined the RS
The government conceded on appeal (as it should) that the officers alleged to have reasonable suspicion were mistaken as to what they testified to because they were misinformed. Taking this information out of the equation, the court finds that they … Continue reading →
IA: De novo review (apparently) means looking at the dashcam video
De novo review (apparently) means looking at the dashcam video: “Upon our review of the video, we find, as did the district court, Hales’s vehicle was ‘drifting left and traveling over the dividing line of the lanes’ at 12:30 in … Continue reading →
DE: “Surveilling” def by following him looking for discarded DNA wasn’t an unreasonable search or seizure
Defendant lived in Pennsylvania and was accused of unlawful sex in Delaware. A search warrant was obtained in Pennsylvania for his house, and there was probable cause for it and it was narrow and specific. His DNA had been obtained … Continue reading →
CA6: With PC, car can be searched on impound lot
Officers had probable cause to search defendant’s car for a hidden gun while it was on the impound lot. The automobile exception or inventory applied, so no warrant was required. United States v. Nuyen, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 1608 (6th … Continue reading →
E.D.Wash.: SW affidavit that failed to show PC on its face gets no GFE
The affidavit for the search warrant failed on its face to show probable cause for search of defendant’s house. Thus, the good faith exception doesn’t apply. United States v. Contreras-Aguilar, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9661 (E.D. Wash. Jan. 4, 2021). … Continue reading →
EFF: So-called “Consent Searches” Harm Our Digital Rights
EFF: So-called “Consent Searches” Harm Our Digital Rights by Adam Schwartz:
CA1: When police justifiably shoot at a car, a passenger hit has no claim
A police officer fired at a vehicle driven by an armed man that was trying to hit him, and a passenger was hit. On the undisputed facts, the use of force was reasonable. Fagre v. Parks, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading →
NY: Tenants can consent to a rental property inspection
In a rental property inspection, the tenants consented, and that was constitutionally sufficient. Town of Huntington v. CFLNYNY, LLC, 2021 NY Slip Op 50009(U), 2021 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 27 (Suffolk Co. Jan. 7, 2021).* There was probable cause for a … Continue reading →
W.D.Wash.: Demand for records complied with doesn’t state a state law claim for invasion of privacy
A demand for records from the federal government doesn’t state a claim under Washington state law when plaintiff grudgingly gave up the records. Daviscourt v. United States, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 246610 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 10, 2020)*:
CA5: Burglary call led to plain view of drugs in car, then a search
Police responded to a potential burglary call and encountered a vehicle. In plain view the officers could see what was likely methamphetamine. That led to a search that found explosive devices. The plain view was reasonable. United States v. Miller, … Continue reading →
E.D.Ky.: Def consented to search of car; request was “not … sufficiently coercive”
I see cases like this all time time, and it really happens. Clients admit it, and I’ve seen the video. But I’m not going to stop arguing they felt compelled to consent: “So, the question now before the court is … Continue reading →
CA6: “Hey, man, I said come here” was still a consensual encounter
The district court’s finding of fact is not clearly erroneous. The officer said he said “please” and defendant said he said “Hey, man. … Hey, come here,” and when defendant continued to walk, the officer supposedly yelled, “Hey, man, I … Continue reading →