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- CA7: False confession claim is a 4A not 14A claim
- CA5: RS required of weapons or contraband for search of vagina
- CA4: Affidavit for SW provided neither nexus nor timing and even failed GFE
- CA9: Ptfs didn’t meet burden of showing administrative subpoena was 4A violation or in bad faith
- CA2: No 4A requirement for SWs being issued with notice to 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)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (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
AZ: Overnight guest’s cell phone in house retained REP
An overnight guest who left her cell phone at her host’s place did not lose her reasonable expectation of privacy in the phone. State v. Peoples, 2016 Ariz. LEXIS 228 (Sept. 12, 2016). After a stop for a traffic offense, … Continue reading →
CT: Two police cars converging on def and telling him to stop was a seizure
Two police cars driving at defendant in a Subway parking lot from different directions and stopping him was a stop. And, he was ordered to stop by an officer. State v. Edmonds, 2016 Conn. LEXIS 251 (Sept. 13, 2015) (concur; … Continue reading →
ID: Officer telling defendant to set aside because he was looking for a man with a warrant was not a seizure
When the officer came to defendant’s house, he said he was looking for another person, and asked defendant to move back. A reasonable person in his position would not have felt free to leave. Thus, when defendant was confronted outside … Continue reading →
M.D.N.C.: In 4A IAC claim, defendant has to show standing in detail and vague allegations aren’t enough
Defendant’s IAC claim here depends on his having standing. His vague allegations of standing aren’t enough. Organes-Espino v. United States, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113536 (M.D.N.C. Aug. 25, 2016). The officer had reasonable suspicion defendant had been driving under the … Continue reading →
D.Minn.: IP address on CP coming back to a residence is nexus to search the residence and its computers
IP address on child pornography coming back to a residence is nexus to search the residence and its computers. United States v. Wylie, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113669 (D.Minn. July 18, 2016), adopted, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112900 (D. Minn. … Continue reading →
W.D.N.Y.: Def had hood of car open and police told him to put his hands up, he did, then fled; he was seized w/o RS [Updated: rev’d 12/13/16]
Officers saw defendant by his car with the hood open. Something about his elbow body language made them want to stop him. They told him to raise his hands. He did, then he fled. The court finds the directive was … Continue reading →
VI: Alleged consent at gunpoint after stop without RS was involuntary
Defendant was found to have been stopped at gunpoint without reasonable suspicion. Even if he said “‘do whatever you want,’ this Court finds that Schulterbrandt did not freely and voluntarily give his consent” to the armed force that just arrested … Continue reading →
MD: Consent to search of car doesn’t include a frisk of the person
Defendant consented to a search of his car, but that did not permit a frisk of his person. On the totality here, the officer did not have reasonable suspicion for a frisk of defendant’s person. Objectively, he had a hunch … Continue reading →
IL: Officer’s entry was consented to and a suspect fled with officer chasing; when he came back he re-entered, and it was treated as part of initial entry
There was a consensual entry into a room, and a suspect fled. The officer gave chase and returned. Under state case law, that was essentially one continuous entry, and the second re-entry didn’t required a separate consent. Defendant, moreover, didn’t … Continue reading →
NC: Knock-and-talk led to smell of raw marijuana and then a valid protective sweep
A CI said that defendant’s house was the target of potential marijuana robbery with AK-47s, the police went there to do a knock-and-talk. When the door was opened, defendant didn’t seem to understand English, and the officers smelled raw marijuana, … Continue reading →
ID: Accident investigation alone not exigency for warrantless blood draw
The fact of a motor vehicle accident investigation is alone not exigency for dispensing with a warrant for a blood draw. Instead, other officers could have been called in to help with the investigation or get the blood warrant. State … Continue reading →
WI: Consent to a blood draw or suffer DL revo was still voluntary consent
Defendant consented to a blood draw knowing that his license would have been revoked if he didn’t. “Blackman, by choosing to give actual consent, made a voluntary choice. The choice was Blackman’s alone and, as such, was not coerced.” State … Continue reading →
S.D.Ill.: “perfunctory, one-sentence argument” in motion to suppress was no motion at all
“Mr. Lee made a perfunctory, one-sentence argument that the evidence seized during the search of his residence should be suppressed because there was ‘no probable cause to believe evidence related to [the charged] offenses would be found in Jonesboro Arkansas … Continue reading →
ME: Owner of property consented to police entry; defs didn’t object when they asked what he was doing, so they consented, too
The owner of a camp gave the officer consent to “look around.” When he got inside there were co-tenants and they asked him what he was doing and he told them. They didn’t object, so that was consent. State v. … Continue reading →
FL3: Consent to search bedroom was solely for cell phone; search of dresser after phone was found suppressed
Defendant signed a general consent for his bedroom, but the police told him they were only looking for a stolen cell phone. After they found the cell phone, they started searching his dresser drawers and found cocaine. The search exceeded … Continue reading →
W.D.Mo.: Officers’ own observations corroborated CI’s
There clearly was probable cause drugs, money, and firearms would be found at the place searched. “The affidavit provided the statements of a confidential source who specifically described drug trafficking activities there. These statements included the CS’s very recent eyewitness … Continue reading →
CA8: Record supports consent because that’s all district court had
Defendant put a backpack in the shed of Allen, and Allen told the police he didn’t put a lock on the shed and consented to cutting it off and the entry. An officer testified that defendant consented too, and defendant … Continue reading →
NV justice courts have statutory power to suppress during preliminary hearings
By statute, Nevada justice courts have express authority to suppress illegally obtained evidence during preliminary hearings. Grace v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., 131 Nev. Adv. Rep. 51, 2016 Nev. LEXIS 639 (July 21, 2016). Even if the officer … Continue reading →
M.D.Ala.: Consent to search after Miranda violation not attenuated
Defendant’s consent to search after his admitted Miranda violation was invalid. Moreover, the vehicle search was otherwise unlawful because the government can’t support it as an inventory search. United States v. Groce, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93352 (M.D.Ala. July 1, … Continue reading →
N.D.Ga.: Conclusory allegation tracking warrant not properly issued fails
Conclusory allegations that an electronic tracking warrant wasn’t issued in compliance with Rule 4.1 is not sufficient to get a hearing. United States v. Joyner, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90241 (N.D.Ga. May 24, 2016). The factual record supports the district … Continue reading →