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- N.D.Ala.: SW not invalid because issuing judge previously represented the target
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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)
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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
ID: DL was not seized for warrants check; officer asked to see it and then write info off it, then it was returned
The officer did not seize defendant’s license to conduct a warrant check. In a consensual encounter, he asked to see it then he asked if he could write the information down. He did and handed it back. He later ran … Continue reading →
NBC News: ‘They lied to us’: Mom says police deceived her to get her DNA and charge her son with murder
NBC News: ‘They lied to us’: Mom says police deceived her to get her DNA and charge her son with murder (“A murder case raises the question: Is it OK for police to lie to get an innocent person’s DNA?”)
S.D.Ga.: Bodycam video shows homeowner’s consent to entry over guest’s gun was voluntary
The owner of the house, captured on a bodycam video, consented to a search of the house for a firearm that defendant, an overnight guest, allegedly brought into the house. United States v. McRae, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26680 (S.D. … Continue reading →
TX3: Officer’s conviction for official oppression for exigentless warrantless entry into home affirmed
A police officer was convicted of official oppression for an entry into premises without exigent circumstances. “[W]e conclude that there is legally sufficient evidence supporting the jury’s determination that exigent circumstances did not justify the warrantless entry into Nutt’s trailer … Continue reading →
D.Kan.: Police responding to a shooting call did a protective sweep for other victims and saw a mushroom grow; it was a reasonable look in the room
Police and paramedics responded to a shooting call where the victim was shot through his door. While inside, police checked for other victims and saw a mushroom grow operation in a bedroom. That led to a search warrant, and the … Continue reading →
NY2: When there’s a request to search a car by consent, producing and handing over car keys and telling officer where it is is consent
Police were called to a hotel because a man with a gun was banging it on the door of a room. When the arresting officer arrived, there were already four officers there. Defendant was described by the occupants as always … Continue reading →
SC: Def’s encounter with police after getting off bus was consensual and led to a valid frisk
Defendant rode a “Chinese bus line,” a bus that runs from NYC’s Chinatown and doesn’t stop at traditional bus stations. The police know that criminals ride this bus to avoid scrutiny. In Charleston, police were waiting and one person with … Continue reading →
GA: Responding to knock at the door and standing back when entrance demanded is mere acquiescence and not consent
Defendant responded to a knock at his door, and answering the knock is not implied consent to enter. Officers couldn’t rely on defendant’s probation search waiver because they weren’t aware of it. “ Moreover, viewed in the light most favorable … Continue reading →
CA11: Def had no standing in a borrowed car he was a passenger in and the search was of the pocket of the driver’s door
“For starters, Black did not have standing to challenge the September 9, 2016, search of the car he was borrowing, and, thus, could not have prevented the fraudulent credit cards within it from entering evidence. The record shows that, at … Continue reading →
OH2: Putting wrong city of bank robbery in affidavit was mere clerical error that could be overlooked
There was probable cause on the totality of the information provided the issuing magistrate for issuance of a search warrant for bank robber. The error as to the city of the robbery was a mere clerical error that could be … Continue reading →
TN: Def consented to a full patdown and admitted he had a crackpipe
The officer could tell the driver to get out of the car in a traffic stop. Defendant then consented to a full patdown that produced a crack pipe. When the officer touched it and asked what it was, defendant freely … Continue reading →
D.Mont.: “he’s not fucking here—go fucking look” was consent to enter
The government met its burden of proof that defendants consented to entry into their house to look for a wanted man by their saying “he’s not fucking here—go fucking look” and “he’s not fucking in there—go ahead.” United States v. … Continue reading →
D.N.M.: “Brady does not require the United States to disclose impeachment evidence before suppression hearings.”
“Brady does not require the United States to disclose impeachment evidence before suppression hearings.” United States v. Deleon, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9688 (D.N.M. Jan. 21, 2020). Defendant’s motion to suppress for lack of nexus between defendant’s home and possession … Continue reading →
TN: License to enter Bonaroo music festival included search waiver; no REP
Defendant’s campsite at the Bonaroo music festival and his car were searched on the authority of the license granted by the ticket which said that everybody there was subject to search. Because of that, his campsite had no reasonable expectation … Continue reading →
D.N.M.: Handing back paperwork during stop and then calling def by name led to consensual extension of stop
Defendant was validly stopped for going 3 mph over the speed limit determined by radar. After handing defendant back his paperwork, and saying he could leave, the officer called out his name and kept him there. The court finds this … Continue reading →
MO: Dashcam video leaves no doubt as to voluntariness of consent
“Burns does not dispute the traffic stop’s validity. Credibility is not at issue in the dashcam video, in which Burns freely consents to a vehicle search and which flatly refutes Burns’ claims of involuntariness and illegal post-stop detention. That ends … Continue reading →
D.S.D.: Cross corroboration of three CIs’ stories was PC
The cross corroboration of three CIs’ stories was probable cause. United States v. Wilford, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6074 (D.S.D. Jan. 14, 2020). “The officers had probable cause to arrest Mancilla-Ibarra because Fann’s information was veritable, reliable, and corroborated.” The … Continue reading →
KS: Def’s actions after the police entry and signing the consent form clearly show voluntariness
“We note, however, that Daino’s acts after the officers entered his residence confirm, instead of refute, his intent to consent to their entry. Daino never protested the officers’ presence. Instead, he later opened a safe for the officers, agreed officers … Continue reading →
D.N.M.: Govt fails in burden of showing consent. Was “yes” acknowledgement of statement to def or assent to search?
The government fails in its burden to show consent to a patdown of defendant’s person. There was a language barrier, and previous questions and statements were translated, but this one wasn’t. “Even though that defendant said ‘yes’ in response to … Continue reading →
OH8: When police at door ask to come in and the occupant stands back and aside, that implies permission and consent
When defendant opened the door and police were there and asked for admission, stepping back and aside implied consent to enter. Police then did a proper protective sweep of the room. City of Westlake v. Dudas, 2020-Ohio-31, 2020 Ohio App. … Continue reading →