Archives
-
Recent Posts
- Jail searches: (1) body scan led to SW for body cavity search and (2) biometric scans reasonable
- D.Haw.: Ex parte communications about SW issuance doesn’t require later recusal
- CA5: Bogus traffic stop can’t support frisk
- Jezebel: One Piece of Flock Camera Data Put This Innocent Woman in Jail for 13 Days
- CA3: Coast-to-coast collective knowledge
-
Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
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
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
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)
-
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
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
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] -
“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
TX14: Bodycam video supported trial court’s findings of voluntariness of consent to search
The bodycam video supports the trial court’s conclusion that the consent to search was voluntarily given. Blue v. State, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 10658 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) Dec. 10, 2019) (with a dissent). “Kelley’s only claim–a Fourth … Continue reading →
NY1: SW for cell phone overbroad; no justification for searching photographs
The search warrant for the contents of defendant’s cell phone was overbroad because there was no justification for the breadth of search. This was a sex abuse case, but there was never any indication defendant possessed child pornography on the … Continue reading →
CA1: Mere fact friend had possession of def’s bags didn’t show actual or apparent authority to consent
Defendant stored bags with a friend, and he ended up in jail. There was no actual or apparent authority shown for her to consent to search of the bags. The government carries the burden on both, and it fails. The … Continue reading →
OH8: State’s losing exhibits from suppression hearing requires new trial
Appellant appeals the denial of his suppression motion, but a bunch of the exhibits are missing. The state relies on precedent that it’s the appellant’s obligation to bring up a record. The state, however, somehow got Exhibits 1-23 back and … Continue reading →
D.Guam: 4A standing is not jurisdictional, so the court can go to GFE without deciding PC
Standing to contest a search and seizure issue is not jurisdictional, so the court doesn’t have to decide standing. Going to the merits, there was probable cause for the search warrant for the package arriving by mail, and the delay … Continue reading →
E.D.Tenn.: Consent shown on the totality that def didn’t have to cooperate
“The totality of the circumstances here indicate consent, not mere acquiescence by Defendant. Regarding Defendant’s relevant characteristics, he is an adult, and there is no reason to think this was his first encounter with law enforcement, given that he is … Continue reading →
D.Mont.: Being ordered from your vehicle doesn’t require a Miranda warning
Being ordered from your vehicle doesn’t require a Miranda warning. Mimms, of course, permits the occupants to be ordered out. Over time, this ripened to reasonable suspicion. United States v. Lugo, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200612 (D. Mont. Nov. 19, … Continue reading →
KS: Welfare check turned into unreasonable seizure without RS
The officer was called to a convenience store for a welfare check of a woman inside who apparently was sick. When she finally came out, she was fine and appeared fine, but the officer, for no apparent reason, escalated the … Continue reading →
E.D.Mo.: Def consented to four undercover officers who first met him at post office to search house for a wanted man
Four undercover officers followed defendant to the Post Office, and they approached him about Jordan being at his house. He said they could come to the house, and he consented to an entry into the house and the look for … Continue reading →
OH2: Open-ended consent to search a car includes closed containers, here def’s purse
During a traffic stop, defendant consented to a search of her car. She was out of the car and her purse was inside. The consent was open-ended, and it thus would include closed containers, like her purse in the front … Continue reading →
S.D.Fla.: Cruise ship cabins are subject to border search
Defendants were passengers on the cruise ship MSC Seaside which arrived at Miami from Carribean ports. The passenger cabins were subject to search under the border search exception. When they knocked at the cabin door and it opened, they could … Continue reading →
CA9: Shaking a fanny pack rather than searching it was reasonable during a stop-and-frisk
Shaking defendant’s fanny pack to see if there was a weapon rather than opening it was reasonable as a part of stop and frisk. United States v. Elenes, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 33067 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 2019). Officers could … Continue reading →
W.D.Ky.: Consent to search a vehicle includes the spare tire compartment
Defendant’s open consent to search a vehicle included the spare tire compartment because it’s known that people secrete things there. United States v. Stevens, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191954 (W.D. Ky. Sept. 29, 2019), adopted, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190842 … Continue reading →
W.D.Mo.: Officer’s limited knowledge of Spanish still enabled her consent
Defendant claimed a lack of consent due to a language barrier. The court finds one officer was proficient enough in Spanish to effectively communicate the request for consent. United States v. Molina-Lopez, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191087 (W.D. Mo. Sept. … Continue reading →
D.N.J.: US can’t be sued under Bivens
Plaintiff can’t bring a Fourth Amendment Bivens claim against the United States because of sovereign immunity. There is always FTCA, but it has prerequisites. Leave to amend granted. Whitaker v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188071 (D. N.J. Oct. … Continue reading →
W.D.La.: Dismissal of indictment is not remedy for DEA allegedly violating its policy manual, even if it did
Defendant’s general allegation that the DEA officers violated their own policy manual isn’t specific and doesn’t even rise to the level of dismissal of the indictment, which is what he alleges. “Indeed, the Supreme Court has held that violations of … Continue reading →
E.D.Wis.: Police allegely entered curtilage to shine headlights in windows, and homeowner consented to entry; def was inside and without standing to contest
Defendant contended that police drove onto the curtilage and shined police headlights and lights into the premises. The USMJ couldn’t adequately resolve that because of a lack of photographic evidence showing what was where. But, that led to a consent … Continue reading →
S.D.Ind.: Stalking horse rationale for PO’s cover for LEOs in search not universally accepted, and there was RS for this search anyway
Analyzing all the probation and parole search cases, the court finds defendant’s claim that probation was really a “stalking horse” for ATF unavailing. He had a reduced expectation of privacy and that there was reasonable suspicion for the search in … Continue reading →
NY3: Strip search after a frisk not justified merely for drug arrest; must be RS drugs on person, and here there wasn’t
Defendant had been frisked, and there’s no justification in New York for a strip search of all drug defendants without more information, at least reasonable suspicion, that drugs are actually secreted on the person. That was lacking here. People v. … Continue reading →
CA7: Airbnb tenant who was theft victim can consent to police entry to rental unit
Plaintiff’s Airbnb tenant suffered a theft, and he had the authority to consent to an entry by police to investigate it. Wonsey v. City of Chicago, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 30651 (7th Cir. Oct. 15, 2019).* The officer didn’t prolong … Continue reading →