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- 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
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- Jezebel: One Piece of Flock Camera Data Put This Innocent Woman in Jail for 13 Days
- CA3: Coast-to-coast collective knowledge
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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
AZ: Presenting a consent form after def lawyers-up doesn’t violate Miranda
Defendant was Mirandized, and she lawyered up. She was presented with a consent form for her cell phone with the understanding that if she didn’t consent they’d get a search warrant. She didn’t ask for a lawyer, and she consented. … Continue reading →
E.D.Mich.: Giving password to computer and Facebook account waived REP as to that person
Defendant gave his passwords to his computer and Facebook to his victim. Her searches are not Fourth Amendment violations. United States v. Johnson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169622 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 1, 2019). The state’s admission on appeal that they … Continue reading →
NE: After stop concluded, “[H]ey, before you go, do you have a minute to talk to me?” led to consensual extension of stop
The officer, in effect, told defendant she was free to leave, but he kept talking. “Second, VanWinkle did not require compliance with her request. VanWinkle asked, ‘[H]ey, before you go, do you have a minute to talk to me?’ The … Continue reading →
CA9: Def didn’t show standing in package without his name on it or showing knowledge of contents
Defendant’s papers didn’t show that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a package that arrived on June 5th. His name wasn’t on the package as sender or receiver, the package arrived June 6th, and he didn’t say he … Continue reading →
E.D.Va.: Def doesn’t lose REP in cell phone by loaning it out while he’s in jail
The government obtained defendant’s cell phone from somebody else using it while he was in jail, and they sought a search warrant which was denied. Later they searched the phone and claimed defendant had no standing. The court finds defendant … Continue reading →
TN: Defendant’s consent was voluntary; he was twice told he could refuse
Defendant consented to a search of his motel room, and he was twice told he had the right to refuse a consent search. State v. Savage, 2019 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 582 (Sept. 19, 2019). Defendant wasn’t seized when he … Continue reading →
D.Del.: Coast Guard’s search of a ship after failure of an oily water test was reasonable under the 4A
The Coast Guard boarded a Bahamian ship when it arrived in port in Delaware to inspect its potential for oil discharge and pollution. At issue was the oily water separator which was observed in operation, and this led to the … Continue reading →
CA6: District Court’s credibility determination underlying consent to search aren’t reviewable
“Second, Harris asserts that the inconsistencies between Gilbert’s and Wilbanks’s testimony undercut the district court’s credibility finding. This is a steep hurdle for Harris because the district court is ‘in the best position to judge credibility’ and we will not … Continue reading →
IN: State’s motion to reconsider suppression order led to time for interlocutory appeal to run
The state’s motion to the trial court to reconsider its suppression order was denied. In the meanwhile, the time to seek interlocutory appeal of the suppression order lapsed. Appeal dismissed. State v. Fahringer, 2019 Ind. App. LEXIS 404 (Sept. 12, … Continue reading →
the interept: SOUTHWEST BUST: DEA Agents Ambush Amtrak Passengers With Controversial Searches and Seizures
the interept: SOUTHWEST BUST: DEA Agents Ambush Amtrak Passengers With Controversial Searches and Seizures by Amy Martyn:
OH2: Def taken to hospital for mental eval couldn’t have clothes inventoried by police because of lack of arrest
Defendant was detained and taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation. He was made to change into hospital clothing, and his clothes were placed in a hospital property bag. The police inventory of the bag wasn’t justified because defendant … Continue reading →
M.D.Fla.: Guest’s host’s consent was coerced and suppressed
Defendant was an overnight guest with standing. His host’s consent was coerced by the police and wasn’t voluntary. United States v. Powell, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141017 (M.D. Fla. July 16, 2019)*:
N.D.Ga.: Officer’s SW affidavit that said def could be ID’ed from his tattoos without seeing his face wasn’t false
Defendant was ID’ed by the police from surveillance videos, and it was a false statement that they could ID him without seeing his face. The search warrant to photograph his tattoos was issued with probable cause. United States v. Mitchell, … Continue reading →
D.Ore.: Rental car company can’t be a third-party consenter just because def was unauthorized driver
Defendant was an unauthorized driver of a Dollar rental car. When he was stopped, the officer called Dollar, and they wanted the car repossessed. The court finds that the car rental company cannot be a third-party consenter to a search … Continue reading →
E.D.Mich.: 2255 IAC challenge to warrant completely contradicted by record of conviction and appeal [this was farfetched]
Defendant’s 2255 Fourth Amendment/Sixth Amendment ineffectiveness challenge completely contradicts the position taken in the district court and his admissions before conviction and on appeal. Defense counsel couldn’t be ineffective for not coming up with that. United States v. Fonville, 2019 … Continue reading →
N.D.Ohio: Officers knew def had CP on cell phone; finding cell phone in plain view permitted seizure
Even assuming the search warrant covered only under the roof, defendant’s cell phone was found in plain view on the driveway and it’s incriminating nature was already known to the officers, therefore, readily apparent. United States v. O’Neill, 2019 U.S. … Continue reading →
OH10: Carpenter not shown to be retroactive for post-conviction purposes
Defendant’s post-conviction petition seeking to apply Carpenter is denied. It’s a successor petition and untimely, and Carpenter isn’t shown to be retroactive. State v. Teitelbaum, 2019-Ohio-3175, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 3268 (10th Dist. Aug. 8, 2019).* Defendant consented to talk … Continue reading →
WA: EMTs would be medicating and intubating def in transit after car wreck, and that’s exigency for warrantless blood draw
Defendant was in a bad wreck and the first responders could smell alcohol. He was going to be medicated and intubated for transport to the ER. A warrantless blood draw was reasonable for exigent circumstances because the sample would have … Continue reading →
VT: Flagging down def in driveway while officer on welfare check call was consensual stop; led to DUI arrest
A state trooper went to defendant’s house for a welfare check on a person, and pulled in the driveway and started toward the house. A car was coming down the driveway and he waved for the car to stop so … Continue reading →
OH10: Def’s stop turned from consensual to a seizure when the officer saw a baggie of drugs in his hand
Defendant and another were encountered by police after coming out of a drug house. The encounter was consensual until defendant tried to walk away, but the officer had already seen a baggie of drugs in his hand by plain view. … Continue reading →