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- Reason: Homeland Security Is Monitoring Activists Building Anti-Flock Tech
- W.D.Pa.: Def can’t repackage a losing 4A standing claim into a due process claim
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- VA: Body cam video of valid arrest would not be suppressed
- NM: Trial court’s finding of consent is reversed because the court engaged in its own internet investigation beyond what the parties provided
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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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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: Dog sniff
CO: Once a dog alerts on a car, there is PC, and putting dog in car wasn’t unreasonable
Once a dog alerted on a car during a stop that was valid up to that time, putting the dog inside the car wasn’t unreasonable. The officers had probable cause at that point. People v. Bailey, 2018 CO 84 (Oct. … Continue reading
CA7: Pre-Collins dog sniff of car on property was valid when it happened; GFE applies
A pre-Collins v. Virginia dog sniff of defendant’s car on his property was valid under circuit law at the time it occurred, so the good faith exception requires no suppression. United States v. Velazquez, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28445 (7th … Continue reading
MN: Apt building common hallway not curtilage under Jardines for dog sniff
Dog sniff in the common hallway of an apartment building wasn’t unreasonable because it’s not curtilage under Jardines. State v. Edstrom, 2018 Minn. LEXIS 446 (Aug. 15, 2018). There was nexus: “Here, the investigating officer had significant experience. The officer … Continue reading
OH9: Dog sniff of a car in motel parking lot not a search
A dog sniff of a car on a motel parking lot was reasonable and didn’t require reasonable suspicion because there was no stop. State v. Bryner, 2018-Ohio-3215, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 3473 (9th Dist. Aug. 13, 2018). Police had a … Continue reading
WY: PC existed for vehicle search before dog was called in; legality of stop abandoned
Defendant’s three sentence motion to suppress said it would follow up with authority. The motion and hearing without that authority narrowed the scope of the claim and abandoned the justification for the stop and any state constitutional claim. What developed … Continue reading
The New American: Do Tech-sniffing K9s Violate the Fourth Amendment?
The New American: Do Tech-sniffing K9s Violate the Fourth Amendment? by Joe Wolverton, II: For several years, police and the FBI have been secretly training dogs to sniff out thumb drives, SD cards, and other small electronic devices. These special … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Backup officer to traffic stop immediately used drug dog, and that wasn’t unreasonable
Defendants’ failure to stop at stop signs was justification for the stop. A backup officer with a drug dog did a dog sniff around the car while the basic stuff of the traffic stop was being done. This did not … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Drug dog sticking his nose into defendant’s car was instinctual and wasn’t caused by the police
A drug dog sticking his nose into defendant’s car was instinctual and wasn’t caused by the police, following United States v. Sharp, 689 F.3d 616 (6th Cir. 2012). United States v. Miles, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66899 (W.D. Ky. Apr. … Continue reading
TX5: Pre-Jardines dog sniff was apparently valid at the time and wouldn’t be suppressed
Defendant’s home was subjected to a dog sniff a year before Jardines. Relying on that, the trial court suppressed. Because enough Texas cases held similar searches were valid prior to Jardines, the court concludes that the exclusionary rule would not … Continue reading
KY: Deploying drug dog at the beginning of the stop without reasonable suspicion unreasonably prolonged the stop in violation of Rodriguez
Defendant was stopped for not using a turn signal. Deploying the drug dog at the beginning of the stop without reasonable suspicion unreasonably prolonged the stop in violation of Rodriguez. Commonwealth v. Smith, 2018 Ky. LEXIS 128 (Mar. 26, 2018):
CA8: No standing to challenge a DEA administrative subpoena just used to identify his storage unit for a dog sniff
Defendant had no standing to complain that a DEA administrative subpoena was used to identify the storage unit that was his so the DEA could use a drug dog on his storage unit. Defendant’s plain error argument that a tracking … Continue reading
OH8: Trash pull helped corroborate informant hearsay
The police received informant hearsay, and sought to corroborate it, and a trash pull did it. State v. Rieves, 2018-Ohio-955, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 1021 (8th Dist. Mar. 15, 2018). The town’s housing inspection scheme is reasonable under the Fourth … Continue reading
NE: Because of direct evidence def was involved in crime, computer search history was harmless error, if error at all
Defendant challenged the search for lack of probable cause of the search history of his computer that produced evidence he searched for violent pornographic videos that matched how the victim was killed. There was direct evidence he was involved in … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: On totality, dog alert was reliable; not much difference between an “alert” and an “indication”
On the totality of the evidence, recognizing that dog sniffs can be unreliable (see quote), the court finds this one reliable. Also, there isn’t much difference here between a dog “alert” and an “indication.” United States v. Herbst, 2017 U.S. … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: There is no constitutional difference between a drug dog’s “alert” and “indication”
There is no constitutional difference between a drug dog’s “alert” and “indication.” The dog’s actions and what it means to the handler are just a factor in probable cause to search. United States v. Herbst, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6516 … Continue reading
D.Idaho: Dog sniff by stopping officer prolonged the stop; effort to show RS fails
The totality of circumstances that the government presents fails to show reasonable suspicion. Defendant was subjected to a dog sniff by the stopping officer without it, and the motion to suppress is granted because it prolonged the stop. United States … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: There was RS for a dog sniff of a package in the mail, and the alert was PC for a SW; def’s motion to suppress suggested no standing
There was reasonable suspicion to detain a package in the mail for a dog sniff because of the way it was packaged and labeled suggested that it contained drugs. After the dog alert, there was a necessary delay in obtaining … Continue reading
Salt Lake Tribune: Trooper who thought man’s Mormon music was suspicious and searched his car violated Fourth Amendment, judge says
Salt Lake Tribune: Trooper who thought man’s Mormon music was suspicious and searched his car violated Fourth Amendment, judge says by Aubrey Wieber:
OH8: Drug dog on scene while ticket being written caused no additional detention
Defendant’s stop was with reasonable suspicion based on corroborated informant hearsay. “Because the police were still in the process of writing the traffic ticket when the canine arrived and conducted the sniff, and thus the stop was not unlawfully extended.” … Continue reading
AP: “Man sits in jail when drywall powder is mistaken for cocaine” because a drug dog said it was cocaine
AP: Man sits in jail when drywall powder is mistaken for cocaine: OVIEDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man spent 90 days in jail after police officers who stopped him for driving without headlights said white powder found in his … Continue reading