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- CA6: State officer’s arrest for violation of federal MJ law likely wouldn’t violate 4A
- D.N.M.: Shared driveway outside of fence and gate was not curtilage
- CA6: Knowing passcode to cell phone shows common authority over it to consent
- VI: Smell of MJ no longer PC in VI since legalization
- Reason: 3 Charlotte Cops Resign After Group Chat Reveals Competition To Arrest the Most Black People
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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)
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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: Standing
E.D.Mo.: One who could freely come and go from the house of another had standing
Defendant had a relationship with the property of another but he didn’t spend the night. He could come and go. That was sufficient for standing. The co-defendant’s case, however, already found probable cause. United States v. Futrell, 2021 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
WA: HIPAA violation in seizing medical records by SW required their return
The trial court’s order denying return of patient records taken by search warrant from the petitioner youth services provider failed to comply with HIPAA requirements should have been granted. While the records have been returned and the case is otherwise … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Minister of church with several locations doesn’t have standing from status alone
Being a church minister with several locations does not confer standing as to search warrants for the church as a whole. United States v. Torres, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215682 (S.D.Cal. Nov. 8, 2021):
CA6: No REP in truck driven without authority and probably stolen
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a truck that was, for all intents and purposes, stolen from a mentally ill woman who could not remember who it was loaned to or when. Moreover, he denied knowledge of the … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Paying $10 for a ride doesn’t increase the passenger’s REP in a vehicle
A passenger who paid a friend $10 to ride in the car has no increased reasonable expectation of privacy for standing. “Defendant’s arguments miss the mark. The key, guiding principle to a finding of standing in both Byrd and Jones … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Status as “protector” of home although not occupant or guest not enough for standing
Defendant’s creative argument that he was a “protector” of the home although he wasn’t the owner or occupant and was only an occasional guest is rejected for the day in question. “Royal argues that he had a reasonable expectation of … Continue reading
AR: Knock on door during visit to ask about a missing person lawfully resulted in plain view of blood spot on porch
While looking for a missing person with connection to defendant, police went to his place to talk to him. The officer knocked on his door but got no answer. As he turned to leave, he saw a spot of blood … Continue reading
CA9: State’s seeking CSLI with PC but under wrong statute not 4A violation
Probable cause was shown for CSLI before the state judge, but the state sought the order under the wrong statute. That doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Fregia, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 32587 (9th Cir. Nov. 2, 2021). … Continue reading
TX1: Commercial truck driver had standing to challenge seizure of cell phone from truck after his arrest
Defendant retained a reasonable expectation of privacy in his cell phone that was left in the semi he was driving for a commercial carrier when he was arrested. The owner of the truck retrieved the phone and sent it to … Continue reading
M.D.Ga.: Def had standing at the address he gave his PO
Defendant listed the address searched with his PO. That gives him standing. Probation had reasonable suspicion for the search of that place. United States v. Shearry, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 204764 (M.D.Ga. Oct. 25, 2021). Defendant was a frequent visitor … Continue reading
CA9: Def’s lawful possession of this vehicle gave him standing
Defendant showed standing in the vehicle searched under Byrd because he lawfully possessed it at the time of the search. United States v. Glarner, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 31706 (9th Cir. Oct. 21, 2021). The affidavit for the search warrant … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Passenger has no standing in a stolen car, even if he doesn’t know it’s stolen
Defendant has no standing in a stolen car he is a passenger in, even if he doesn’t know it’s stolen. Also, a key-locked safe in the car could be opened under inventory even though the policy doesn’t talk about it. … Continue reading
NY Bronx: No SW needed to test abandoned DNA
The state did not need a search warrant to test DNA retrieved from an abandoned cigarette butt. Carpenter doesn’t remotely apply. People v. Mendez, 2021 NY Slip Op 21275, 2021 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5148 (Bronx Co. Oct. 13, 2021). Defendant … Continue reading
NY: Failure to swear to facts of standing dooms motion to suppress
Failing to swear to facts supporting standing is fatal to a Fourth Amendment claim in New York. People v. Ibarguen, 2021 NY Slip Op 05617, 2021 N.Y. LEXIS 2207 (Oct. 14, 2021) (Wilson dissents again (see today’s prior post of … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Exigency permitted warrantless CSLI pings
Only the owner of a cell phone has standing to challenge tracking the phone with a Stingray. Warrantless pings to locate the phone were shown by the government to be based on exigent circumstances. United States v. Baker, 2021 U.S. … Continue reading
OH7: Visitor to hotel room with no key or shown association to room had no standing
Defendant was a visitor to a hotel room and he had no standing to challenge its search. He had no key to the room and no luggage or other belongings, and he couldn’t show he was a guest of either … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Def had no REP in sister’s bedroom
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy to contest the search of his sister’s bedroom. United States v. Slater, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180673 (E.D.Wis. Sept. 22, 2021). There was probable cause for search of defendant’s car, and the opportunity … Continue reading
CA8: Usually no REP in car carried by car hauler even to owner, and here there was nothing showing REP
“During a safety inspection of a semi transporting three vehicles, an officer found about 40 pounds of meth in a Ford Explorer. Sierra-Serrano wants to suppress those drugs, arguing that the search violated the Fourth Amendment. But because Sierra did … Continue reading