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- Reason: Iowa Voters Don’t Want Police or Flock Tracking Their Cars. Politicians Are Still Catching Up.
- Reason: The Founders Warned Against Secret Arrests. ICE Is Testing That Principle.
- UT: Lack of a bodycam doesn’t make officer not believable
- W.D.La.: Gant search incident permitted for arrest for violation of supervised release terms
- VA: Search incident between def’s shorts and underwear was reasonable
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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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General (many free):
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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
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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: Emergency / exigency
MN: Exigency for entry unproved; inevitable discovery doesn’t apply to statements after an unlawful search
The state didn’t make its burden in proving that the emergency aid exception applied to the entry into defendant’s home because there was no positive link to it and an assault where the victim was in the hospital being treated … Continue reading
PA: Hot pursuit of a drug dealer to his door permitted warrantless entry when door answered
Officers observed defendant involved in a drug deal and then pursued him to his house and knocked and then entered on answer. This was not a police created exigency. The court engages in a lengthy state constitutional and historical review … Continue reading
CO: Unconscious def’s impending treatment at hospital was exigency for warrantless blood draw
“In this interlocutory appeal, the People seek review of the trial court’s order suppressing the results of a blood draw taken from the defendant. The trial court found that a warrant was required before the police could order a blood … Continue reading
KS: Where the parole search rules changed and defendant didn’t know, they couldn’t revoke on the rule change
Defendant was a parolee, and his conditions changed with a broader search condition that he agree in writing that he’s aware. The paperwork, however, hadn’t been signed before this search occurred, and that broader condition thus could not be applied … Continue reading
OR: No exigency for entry into home to arrest a DUI suspect; at minimum a telephonic warrant could have been obtained
Police had no exigency to enter defendant’s house and arrest him for suspicion of DUII. He was seen on the street last at 11:01 am, and they had his address from his LPN. They went to his house and saw … Continue reading
OH2: Anonymous tip of shooting was corroborated enough by witnesses at scene
The anonymous tip defendant was involved in a shooting was corroborated by people at the scene who pointed to defendant’s house and blood drops outside, and it led to a fair inference that the shooter or a victim was inside. … Continue reading
OH11: Officer’s delay in investigation of defendant made pursuit no longer “hot pursuit”
The officer had probable cause for defendant’s arrest, but it wasn’t any longer hot pursuit because the officer directed his attention elsewhere. The entry into defendant’s house could not be justified by hot pursuit. State v. Lowe, 2015-Ohio-1064, 2015 Ohio … Continue reading
LA2: Hot pursuit valid; fleeing man with warrants led to officer seeing another inside also with warrants
The officer here was in hot pursuit of the defendant because he knew there were warrants on him and defendant fled into a house. The officer called for backup and hesitated outside for a few minutes, saw another wanted person … Continue reading
MA: Police brought to a working chop shop by a LoJack alert was exigent circumstance for warrantless entry
A Honda owner’s car was stolen, and it was equipped with LoJack. LoJack directed the police to defendant’s garage, and the police, without a warrant, announced their presence. Inside they could hear power tools and tools dropping when they yelled … Continue reading
MT: Officers entering on a civil standby for a roommate moving out made a valid plain view of MJ grow
Officers were called for a civil standby to assist a woman from moving out of a house where she feared trouble from her roommates. It was objectively reasonable to believe her based on her conversation and because she had a … Continue reading
NJ: Smell of burnt MJ coming from house isn’t sufficient exigency for warrantless entry
Police received multiple calls, some anonymous, about shots fired, and they were ultimately directed to defendant’s house which they approached from the rear. One caller said a gun was kept in a doghouse, and there were pit bulls in the … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: If police reasonably believe someone not answering, knock and talk can go from front door to another door; finding overdose victim justified entry
Where the police attempt a knock and talk and it’s apparent to them that somebody is home but not coming to the door, it is not unreasonable to go to another door to attempt an answer. Thus, the curtilage may … Continue reading
CA11: 911 DV call led to entry and plain view of identify theft
Officers received a frantic domestic abuse call with an allegation of injury. They “authoritatively knocked on the door” and it was opened, and they could smell burning marijuana. They came in to the living room only, and evidence of identity … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: If you decorate your walls with child porn, calling 911 not a good idea
This pretty much sums it all up: “Defendant Tilman Williams chose to decorate his apartment with sexually explicit photographs of young girls. In doing so, he assumed serious risks. One such risk: if he had a medical emergency and allowed … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Govt failed in burden of showing exigency in domestic call that officers took time to respond to because of caller being notoriously unreliable
The warrantless entry into defendant’s house could not be justified as a domestic violence call. When the vague call came to police, it was only that a person was “upsetting things,” and the officer en route stopped to investigate a … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Entry to find teenage sex slave was on exigent circumstances
Defendant is charged with sex trafficking of a minor. The minor’s aunt called 911 to report that she was held for prostitution, and the police were working to find her. The entry into defendant’s apartment was on exigent circumstances to … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Def arrested and handcuffed after hot pursuit into house still justified sweep for his gun
The initial entry into defendant’s home was justified by hot pursuit, but other officers followed after the detention, and a protective sweep was conducted. Because it was reasonably feared defendant was armed and the gun hadn’t been located, a sweep … Continue reading
CA7: Detention of a minor based on a report from a friend she was suicidal was reasonable
This minor’s § 1983 suit alleges a Fourth Amendment violation when she was taken to a hospital and subjected to a mental health examination based a report from a school friend that she had attempted to kill herself. The police … Continue reading