Archives
-
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
-
-
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
CA8: Def consented by his admissions on two recordings and rejecting expert witness saying consent form was forged
The district court’s findings of consent were supported by the evidence. Defendant provided a claimed expert witness that testified that the signature on the consent form appeared to be forged. The government’s cross examination attacked the witness’s methodology and qualifications, … Continue reading →
E.D.Wash.: An administrative search to enter a govt building has to be reasonable, too, with a warning of consent and this was far too intrusive
Defendant was subjected to an intense search of all his belongings by attempting to enter a Social Security office in eastern Washington by private security contractors working the metal detector and x-ray machine. There was inadequate notice and consent of … Continue reading →
D.Kan.: Conflicts in govt’s testimony doesn’t support its claim of consent
The testimony about whether the officers asked to come in to talk just because it was cold outside or because they wanted to ask questions in an investigation was unclear. Therefore, the court concludes that the government did not meet … Continue reading →
IA: Passenger in a car being impounded should have been permitted to keep her purse and not leave it in car
Defendant was a passenger in a car stopped for expired tags. She should have been allowed to keep her purse when she got out of the car. Instead, she was told to leave it in the car, and then it … Continue reading →
FL3: Tossing object in flight from car after stop was abandonment
The officer encountered defendant passenger sitting in a car in a no parking zone and directed him out of the car because of a fear of weapons. Defendant got out and ran, discarding an object as he ran. That was … Continue reading →
CA3: Nervousness in a high crime area isn’t RS
Defendant was in a “high crime” area around an apartment complex, and he was nervous when accosted by a law enforcement officer, something normal. This just wasn’t enough to be reasonable suspicion. United States v. Alvin, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading →
E.D.Pa.: Security video of def’s business belies his claim of coerced consent for search
Defendant moves to suppress the search of his business because he claimed his consent was coerced. His specific claims of coercion are belied by the security video from the business. Denied. United States v. Hunt-Irving, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108253 … Continue reading →
ND: Video supports trial court’s finding of no consent to blood test
The video of defendant’s stop supports the trial court’s finding of lack of consent, and it’s affirmed. “The district court’s decision to suppress the results of the blood test was based upon a finding Hawkins did not voluntarily consent to … Continue reading →
OR: Evidence of refusal of a breath test doesn’t violate state constitution on self-incrimination or search
Because refusal of consent is a statutory rather than a constitutional issue, “the state’s use of evidence of defendant’s refusal to consent to a breath test at trial did not violate defendant’s right against compelled self-incrimination under Article I, section … Continue reading →
NE: Driver’s refusal to get out of car can be offense of refusal to obey lawful order
Because an officer can order a vehicle occupant out of a car under the Fourth Amendment (here because he couldn’t hear the driver because of a nearby ambulance), the occupant can be convicted of failure to obey a lawful order. … Continue reading →
D.P.R.: No justification shown for search of def’s vehicle during a traffic stop
Defendant was ordered out of his vehicle during a traffic stop, but there were no grounds to search it, starting with a cigarette pack. Motion to suppress granted. United States v. Ramos-Rios, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102516 (D. P.R. June … Continue reading →
E.D.Mo.: Def’s lawyer was present and advised on consent, and it was voluntary
Defendant’s lawyer was present at the time consent was granted and advised defendant to do so. The consent is valid. United States v. Beckman, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101142 (E.D. Mo. June 1, 2017), adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99954 … Continue reading →
OH7: Providing passcode to cell phone showed consent
Defense counsel didn’t provide ineffective assistance of counsel for not pursuing a motion to suppress consent to search her cell phone. Defendant verbally consented to search her home and then in writing, and then she verbally consented to the search … Continue reading →
WI analyzes at length whether defendant impliedly consented and then actually consented
Wisconsin analyzes at length whether defendant impliedly consented and then actually consented, concluding that he did. State v. Brar, 2017 WI 73, 2017 Wisc. LEXIS 395 (July 6, 2017)*:
LA4: No right to a Miranda warning when consent sought for DNA swab
Taking DNA by a buccal swab is a search, but defendant doesn’t have a right to a Miranda warning when consent is sought. State v. Cooper, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1211 (La.App. 4 Cir. July 5, 2017). The seizure of … Continue reading →
CO: Def’s visiting father opened hotel room door in response to a knock; she didn’t object and her statements are not suppressed
The police officer had entered defendant’s hotel room after her father, who did not live in the hotel room, opened the door in response to the officer’s knock. The court of appeals (unpublished) concluded that suppression was required because Stock’s … Continue reading →
OR: Generalized consent to open and look in a purse at a courthouse entrance is not per se consent to search a closed container inside
Court reaffirms that generalized consent to open and look in a purse at a courthouse entrance is not per se consent to search a closed container inside. State v. Winn, 361 Ore. 636, 2017 Ore. LEXIS 422 (June 29, 2017). … Continue reading →
E.D.Tenn.: No IAC where nothing from unchallenged alleged illegal search was put used at trial
Defense counsel can’t be ineffective for not filing a motion to suppress where nothing from the search was put into evidence at defendant’s trial. There is no prejudice. Jordan v. United States, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102698 (E.D. Tenn. July … Continue reading →
OH1: Apparent authority shown for third party consent to search of def’s bedroom
Consent was granted by someone the police reasonably believed had apparent authority to consent to a search of defendant’s bedroom [no facts given to see how there’s third party consent to a bedroom, so this is immediately suspect]. State v. … Continue reading →
TX1: Smell of MJ in car not found didn’t support search of pockets
The smell of marijuana coming from defendant’s car, never found in a search of the car, didn’t justify a search of his person while he was handcuffed and sitting on the curb. Meane v. State, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 5976 … Continue reading →