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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com© 2003-23,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 350,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (25,700+ on WordPress as of 12/31/22)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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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)
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ACLU on privacy
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Section 1983 Blog"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me“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"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]“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
"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."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
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Category Archives: E-mail
NC: Dog sniff of package in mail stream reasonable
A dog sniff of a package in the mail stream is reasonable. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy from a dog sniff there. State v. Teague, 2022-NCCOA-600, 2022 N.C. App. LEXIS 748 (Nov. 1, 2022). Defendants’ motion in limine … Continue reading
The Recorder: Court Can’t Grant Request to Return John Eastman’s Emails, Jan. 6 Committee Says
The Recorder: Court Can’t Grant Request to Return John Eastman’s Emails, Jan. 6 Committee Says (“The committee said constitutional provisions, and Eastman’s own late filing, should end his appeal.”)
E.D.Va.: Drug paraphernalia was in plain view before flashlight put through window
Drug paraphernalia seen from outside the vehicle before sticking a flashlight in the window was a valid plain view. United States v. Johnson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149401 (E.D. Va. Aug. 19, 2022).* There was probable cause for plaintiff’s prosecution, … Continue reading
NY Nassau: 14 days pole camera surveillance of def’s residence not unreasonable under 4A or state constitution
Pole camera surveillance of a homeless shelter for 14 days observing defendant coming and going was not an unreasonable search under the state or federal constitution, even if it was his home. People v. Destefano, 2022 NY Slip Op 22052, … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Sex offense victim’s uncorroborated statements supported issuance of SW for defendant’s email account
Sex offense victim’s uncorroborated statements supported issuance of a warrant for defendant’s email account. A victim is not treated the same as an informant for probable cause purposes. United States v. Deleon, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182049 (E.D.Ky. Sept. 23, … Continue reading
CA9: Police exceeded Google’s private search of email
Google viewed defendant’s email attachments and reported child pornography, but when police got their hands on it, they exceeded the private search. United States v. Wilson, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 28569 (9th Cir. Sept. 21, 2021):
CA9 & TX 11: Video of use of force shows it reasonable
“Here, viewing the sequence of events as depicted in the videotapes, we conclude that no material facts are in genuine dispute and that a reasonable factfinder would necessarily find that the officers’ use of force was objectively reasonable.” Amons v. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Lev Parnas can’t get discovery of Rudy Giuliani search for his own emails
Lev Parnas seeks discovery of Rudy Giuliani’s later search warrant return for his own emails. Denied as cumulative. He already has them. United States v. Parnas, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131253 (S.D. N.Y. July 14, 2021).* Officers conducting the stop … Continue reading
NPR: When It Comes To Email, Some Prisoners Say Attorney-Client Privilege Has Been Erased
NPR: When It Comes To Email, Some Prisoners Say Attorney-Client Privilege Has Been Erased by Carrie Johnson:
D.P.R.: When emails are searched, a taint team isn’t always required; a large amount may be seized for later search
Ex ante search restrictions are rare. The warrant process is concerned with what may be searched for and seized, not necessarily how, and a taint teams isn’t always required. The officers could seize a large number of emails and then … Continue reading
CA9: Husband hacking wife’s work emails for divorce advantage violated SCA
Husband’s interception of his wife’s work emails for advantage in their divorce case violated the Stored Communications Act as well as her right of privacy. The district court erred in granting him summary judgment. Clare v. Clare, 19-36039 (9th Cir. … Continue reading
D.Idaho: Broad email warrants are not per se unreasonable
Broad email search warrants were not unreasonable just because they were broad. The breadth of the financial crime under investigation justifies it. In addition, the good faith exception applies and it’s too early to tell if any has to be … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: Overseizure of emails by SW didn’t require suppression of all; GFE also applies
This search warrant was issued in a SSA fraud case alleging a decade of false claims. The search warrant was sufficiently particular and not overbroad. The fact the period of the alleged offense was through January 2014 did not prohibit … Continue reading
E.D.Wash.: Seizure of e-mails between def and lawyer prior to adversary proceedings didn’t violate 6A
The seizure of defendant’s emails between him and his lawyer didn’t violate the Sixth Amendment when adversary proceedings had not yet begun – defendant wasn’t indicted for more than a year later. United States v. Smith, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Govt satisfied § 2705(b) nondisclosure requirements; NDO didn’t violate 1A
The government showed a justifiable basis for a nondisclosure order (NDO) under 18 U.S.C. § 2705(b) of the order directed to Google for six email accounts. Assuming strict scrutiny applied, the government showed it because nondisclosure could prevent compromising an … Continue reading
CA1: Alleged overseizure of email under SW would only require partial suppression; def doesn’t identify that which was overseized
Defendant’s motion to suppress electronic data acquired by a Rule 41(e)(2)(B) search warrant on his email account was properly denied. Based on the absence of a time limit in the warrant, it was not unreasonable to interpret the warrant to … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: No ex ante opportunity for email account holder to challenge SW
Targets of an email search warrant lack standing to challenge the search warrant ex ante, before execution. They must do so after. In the Matter of the Search of Records, Information, and Data Associated with 14 Email Addresses Controlled by … Continue reading
Law360: Lawmakers Push To Extend Atty-Client Shield To Prison Emails
Law360: Lawmakers Push To Extend Atty-Client Shield To Prison Emails by RJ Vogt:
Law360: Lawmakers Push To Extend Atty-Client Shield To Prison Emails
Law360: Lawmakers Push To Extend Atty-Client Shield To Prison Emails by RJ Vogt:
