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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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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)
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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: Standing
CA8: 38 seconds of additional questions of passenger while ticket being written didn’t unreasonably extend stop
The second officer on the scene did not materially extend the stop by 38 seconds of additional questioning of the passenger while the first officer was writing a ticket. United States v. Salkil, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 25511 (8th Cir. … Continue reading
ID: Def has burden of proving standing and can’t rely on state seeking to prove he didn’t have standing
Defendant had the burden of showing standing, and he couldn’t rely on the state not proving he didn’t have standing. Wilson v. State, 2021 Ind. App. LEXIS 264 (Aug. 24, 2021). Finding that defendant was on federal supervised release was … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Smell of MJ on def’s person not PC to search his car
The officer had no suspicions of defendant before drawing his gun on him. The smell of marijuana on defendant’s person, but not his car, was not probable cause for a search of the car. The officer testified he was quite … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Cell phone lock screen is in plain view
On a cell phone, “information that simply appears on a lock screen, without requiring digital entry, is in plain view.” United States v. Blair, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156445 (N.D.Ga. Aug. 18, 2021). Defendant didn’t have a reasonable expectation of … Continue reading
ND: Search of passenger’s person for smell of MJ in car was unreasonable
Defendant’s patdown as a passenger on smell of marijuana was reasonable during the stop, but a search of his person was not. There was no justification for a search of his person. State v. K.V. (In the Interest of K.V.), … Continue reading
CA8: Taking box off FedEx conveyor belt for dog sniff didn’t deprive FedEx of custody
Moving a suspicious looking box from the FedEx conveyor belt to a back room for a dog sniff did not require reasonable suspicion nor did it deprive FedEx of custody of the box. The dog alert provided justification for a … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Corroborated anonymous 911 call about street corner drug dealing was RS
An anonymous 911 call about drug dealing at a Chicago intersection corroborated by officers’ observations was reasonable suspicion under Navarette. The caller also said she’d be calling back and 911 captured the number. There was little risk the caller couldn’t … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Ptf shows Franks violation for leaving out important mitigating information; officer also had apparent motive
Defendant satisfied his Franks burden of showing a material false statement in support of the probable cause showing for the warrant. That information undermined the probable cause. As to the good faith exception, this is what the exclusionary rule is … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: That PC is debatable isn’t a lack of PC
There was a substantial basis for the state judge to issue this search warrant. A USMJ came to a different conclusion. That it is debatable doesn’t show a lack of probable cause. United States v. Mitchell, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: How long is too long a wait for search of a seized cell phone: reasonableness controls
“A seizure reasonable at its inception because it is based upon probable cause may become unreasonable as a result of its duration. The duration of the seizure pending the issuance of a search warrant must still be reasonable, and reasonableness … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Hot pursuit of man with gun into apt was reasonable; and it wasn’t his apt
Defendant didn’t have standing to contest a warrantless entry into his close friend’s apartment when he was hiding there from the police after having fled an apparent arrest. They were also in hot pursuit of a man with a gun. … Continue reading
D.D.C.: One has to assert standing to challenge a Facebook warrant
The target does not assert standing to challenge the search warrant for this Facebook account, which he must. In re Information Associated with One Account Stored at Premises Controlled by Facebook, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120036 (D.D.C. June 4, 2021). … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: One has to show standing to get access to SW materials
Defendant has to show his standing to get access to the search warrant application under United States v. Pirk, 282 F. Supp. 3d 585, 594 (W.D.N.Y. 2017). United States v. Cobb, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114405 (W.D. N.Y. June 18, … Continue reading
WV: Exclusionary rule would not be applied in administrative child abuse proceeding for protection of children
The exclusionary rule does not apply to child abuse allegations in administrative proceedings. The court declines the request to apply it despite the rule that it doesn’t apply in civil cases generally because of harm to the children. In re … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: DMV’s computer mistake def’s DL was suspended doesn’t invoke the exclusionary rule under Evans
DMV’s computer mistake defendant’s DL was suspended doesn’t invoke the exclusionary rule under Evans. United States v. Salazar, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103027 (N.D. Ohio June 2, 2021). Defendant’s “regenerating” activity in selling heroin made the warrant application not stale. … Continue reading
CA9: Defendant had standing in his hotel room despite having no REP in a stolen laptop in the room
Defendant had standing to challenge the search of his hotel room, but he did not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in a stolen laptop he possessed. If the entry into the hotel room is unreasonable, the seizure of the … Continue reading