Archives
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Recent Posts
- SCOTUS: Geofence warrants governed by Carpenter and are a search; remanded for resolution of issues (interesting take on third party doctrine, too)
- The Guardian: ‘It’s dangerous and it’s going to erode trust’: redesign of US government websites stokes surveillance fears
- W.D.N.Y.: Possibility of co-conspirators in mass murder justified emergency disclosure request to Apple, Verizon, and Facebook
- E.D.N.Y.: Flight out a window is exigency for police to enter
- W.D.Tenn.: A driveway isn’t always curtilage
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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)
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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
Privacy Foundation
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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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)
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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
KY: State’s comment on refusal to consent to DUI test was prejudicial and error
Defendant was convicted of DWI 4th by a jury. The evidence in the case was slim, and he had witnesses with him that night who testified he never drank any alcohol. The state’s comment on his refusal to take a … Continue reading →
E.D.N.Y.: Assuming pawn shops are closely regulated businesses, ptfs stated a claim under § 1983 for arbitrary and unreasonable enforcement
Assuming pawn shops are closely regulated business, in this § 1983 case against arbitrary and unreasonable administrative searches under Burger, plaintiffs survive summary judgment. There is a police memo attempting to limit the exercise of police discretion, but the city … Continue reading →
W.D.La.: Def didn’t have a REP in a friend’s carport visible from the street when police saw him
Defendant was on the carport of a house, and he was mistaken for a wanted person. It was not unconstitutional for officers to tell him to put his hands on his head for safety reasons. Officers came in and he … Continue reading →
CA6: Officer’s looking in def’s cigarette box while asking for consent didn’t invalidate consent
On the totality, defendant voluntarily consented to the search of her home. There were officers there with body cameras, but the discussion about consent wasn’t captured. Other officers were looking through the house [maybe a protective sweep]. One officer, apparently … Continue reading →
W.D.Mo.: Def’s consent under a partial misleading threat as to possible sentence was still voluntary
Defendant still consented in the face of the threat of a 20 year sentence, which was partly misleading under the Sentencing Guidelines. The search of the buildings, vehicle, and cell phone was reasonably within the scope of his consent. There … Continue reading →
N.D.Ohio: Def’s saying to CI he had heroin at home was nexus
Probable cause was shown for defendant’s house when he said to the CI that he didn’t have heroin on him, but at home. United States v. Novak, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92445 (N.D. Ohio June 3, 2019).* Officers had probable … Continue reading →
S.D.Ohio: A federal-state joint task force isn’t required to use a Rule 41 search warrant
A federal-state joint task force isn’t required to use a Rule 41 search warrant. United States v. Williams, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89133 (S.D. Ohio May 29, 2019). “Defendant bears the burden of showing beyond mere speculation that the disclosure … Continue reading →
S.D.Tex.: Giving the password for a cell phone search shows consent
“After considering the totality of the circumstances [in great detail], the court finds that Gallegos’s consent to search his car and the two cell phones was freely and voluntarily given, at least with regard to a manual search on the … Continue reading →
OH11: Pre-Carpenter CSLI was lawfully obtained in good faith
Defendant’s cell tower location information was obtained by subpoena before Carpenter. The good faith exception means it won’t be excluded. State v. Burke, 2019-Ohio-1951, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 2021 (11th Dist. May 20, 2019). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for withdrawing … Continue reading →
E.D.Mich.: “open the motherfucking door or I’m going to tear it down” showed a lack of consent
Plaintiff overcame defendants’ motion for summary judgment in his Fourth Amendment § 1983 case on consent and exigent circumstances for a warrantless entry. As to consent, “open the motherfucking door or I’m going to tear it down” showed a lack … Continue reading →
CA11: Def’s attempt to limit the scope of his consent search shows voluntariness
“Here, Knight knew that he had a firearm, ammunition, and drugs that he shouldn’t have. And his answer—telling the detective that he would consent to a search if she overlooked these items—was unconstrained by the detective’s question. Indeed, a simple … Continue reading →
NJ: Hotel operator who finds stuff in a hotel room can’t grant consent; police should use info to get SW
When a hotelier finds something in a room that justifies calling the police, the third-party intervention doctrine doesn’t give the police the authority to enter. They should use the information to get a search warrant. “We therefore reject the State’s … Continue reading →
AR: Driver couldn’t consent to search of objecting passenger’s stuff
The owner of the car was in it but not driving, and she consented to a search of her car. A passenger in the car refused consent for her personal belongings also in the car. The passenger had the ability … Continue reading →
PA: Philly’s DUI consent form valid under Birchfield
The Philadelphia P.D.’s DUI consent form is facially valid and doesn’t violate Birchfield. Commonwealth v. Geary, 2019 PA Super 149, 2019 Pa. Super. LEXIS 440 (May 6, 2019).* State law provides a mechanism to challenge an alleged illegal search by … Continue reading →
N.D.Okla.: Merely stating affidavit for SW was “false and misleading” doesn’t state a § 1983 civil Franks claim.
Merely stating that an affidavit for search warrant was “false and misleading” doesn’t state a § 1983 civil Franks claim. Affordable Bail Bonds v. Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75411 (N.D. Okla. May 3, 2019). The respondent … Continue reading →
N.D.Ohio: Sitting alone on porch doesn’t justify a protective sweep; but consent was still valid
The protective sweep here was invalid: “Here, the officers had no articulable basis to believe that anyone was in King’s house as King sat on the front porch.” However, his later consent search was valid. “Defendant claims that he did … Continue reading →
NYT: Would You Let the Police Search Your Phone?
NYT: Would You Let the Police Search Your Phone? by Roseanna Sommers & Vanessa K. Bohns: We are much more likely to give consent than we think.
C.D.Ill.: Def counsel had no duty to raise lack of an AW because it’s a frivolous argument
Defense counsel had no duty to raise lack of an arrest warrant for defendant’s arrest because it was frivolous and wouldn’t affect the outcome of the case at all. Brown v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69027 (C.D. Ill. … Continue reading →
CO: Age is a factor in the voluntariness of consent; here a juvenile
Age is a factor in the voluntariness of consent. Here, it was a juvenile and the evidence supports the finding of consent. People in interest of B.D., 2019 COA 57, 2019 Colo. App. LEXIS 553 (Apr. 18, 2019). The only … Continue reading →
D.Me.: Absent room renter could consent to search of motel room def was alone in under Randolph
Defendant was the sole occupant of his hotel room, and the absent renter consented to the search. That consent was binding on defendant under Randolph. It wasn’t ineffective assistance of counsel for defense counsel to fail to argue for an … Continue reading →