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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16)
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© 2003-20,
online since Feb. 24, 2003
WebPage Visits: real non-robot hits since 2010; approx. about 30,000 posts since 2003~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
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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)
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LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
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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“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"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)
Website design by Wally Waller, Little Rock
Category Archives: Standing
CA8: TSA’s officers “satisfy the FTCA’s definition of an investigative or law enforcement officer” for FTCA
“The central question here is whether Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening personnel, known as Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), satisfy the FTCA’s definition of an investigative or law enforcement officer. Holding that they do, we reverse and remand.” “Two of our … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Def retained REP in backpack he stored in a car he wasn’t riding in
Defendant retained a reasonable expectation of privacy in a backpack that he placed in a car that he wasn’t in when it was searched. “The following circumstances established that the defendant possessed a reasonable expectation of privacy in the briefcase: … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Guest who intended to spend the night had standing
Defendant had standing to contest a search of premises he was visiting and anticipated spending the night. He loses on the merits by his consent. United States v. Mack, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152664 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 24, 2020). Defendant’s … Continue reading
CA5: “I don’t know, it’s not my vehicle” is a disavowal of standing
“Rather than establishing an expectation of privacy, Beasley expressly disavowed ownership of the vehicle, saying, ‘I don’t know, it’s not my vehicle.’ Because he disclaimed ownership of the vehicle, the district court appropriately determined that Beasley lacked any expectation of … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Lack of a DL doesn’t deny standing in a borrowed car
Defendant had standing to challenge the stop and search of a car he’d borrowed with permission of the owner despite the lack of a driver’s license, but he loses on the merits. United States v. Zimmerman, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Intervention for return of A-C privileged information denied as moot because they have the information
Intervention in a criminal case to attempt to recover information obtained in alleged violation of the attorney-client privilege is denied as moot. They already have that information, and there is a fundamental difference between recovery of property under Rule 41(g) … Continue reading
CA9: Hotel occupancy ends when manager kicks you out
“The district court correctly determined that Ford lacked standing to challenge the officers’ entry into the hotel room under the Fourth Amendment because any reasonable expectation of privacy Ford had in the room, which had been rented by Ford’s co-defendant … Continue reading
CA9: Nevada JP’s PC determination never finalized has no preclusive effect in § 1983 case
A preliminary determination of probable cause by a justice of the peace that is not appealed is not entitled to preclusive effect under state law. Therefore, plaintiff states a claim for relief for his alleged false arrest despite that. Scafidi … Continue reading
D.Haw.: 4A IAC requires showing standing, too
Defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim for a search issue has to show that he had standing to even make the Fourth Amendment challenge, which he doesn’t. It’s an integral part of the merits claim. United States v. Scher, 2020 … Continue reading
W.D.Ark.: Stop for following too close was without PC when truck pulled in front of car and officer didn’t give time for def to widen the gap
Defendant’s stop for following too close was without probable cause and unreasonable because a truck pulled in front of him, and the officer didn’t give him time to back off before the stop occurred. United States v. Grant, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
D.D.C.: No REP in apt building laundry room when officer saw def in possession; take down when he resisted was reasonable
“In short, and as explained below, the Court finds that Leake’s stance in the corner of the laundry room was suspicious, and that upon approaching him, Officer Pantaleon observed Leake holding a small clear plastic baggie containing a powder-like substance. … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: State officer’s alleged 4A violation doesn’t permit removal of criminal case to federal court
Defendants removed their state criminal cases to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1443 based on claimed search and seizure issues. This isn’t a proper ground to remove, and they have a state law remedy. Texas v. Calzada, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
CA8: Def didn’t show standing in rental car with blank rental agreement
Defendant’s possession of a blank rental agreement fell short of showing his standing to challenge the search of the car he was driving. Defendant has to go forward on standing somehow, and Byrd doesn’t say how. United States v. White, … Continue reading
CA11 (en banc): Abandonment is a 4A standing issue, not an Art. III standing issue
“Sometimes courts make simple mistakes. And simple mistakes call for simple fixes. Just so here. In United States v. Sparks, we held that a suspect who ‘abandons’ his privacy or possessory interest in the object of a search or seizure … Continue reading
NY: CBP officer at least was conducting a citizen’s arrest when he stopped def and turned him over to local police
A CBP maritime officer is not a LEO under NYS law but that didn’t void his stopping a vehicle while on duty in Buffalo for driving erratically. Buffalo officers were called, and he left to go back to work. They … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: Govt’s GFE exception argument waived by not being presented to USMJ
The officer here departed from the investigation of the traffic offense without reasonable suspicion, and the stop became unreasonable. The government’s argument that Rodriguez hadn’t been decided at the time this happened wasn’t presented to the magistrate, so it’s waived. … Continue reading
