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- USA Today: Cell phone SW for cause of crash
- Treatise on sale to 11/1
- MD: While protective sweep information made it into SW affidavit, there was PC without it
- N.D.Ga.: A Customs forensic search of a cell phone away from the border was still a border search
- CA6: State officer’s arrest for violation of federal MJ law likely wouldn’t violate 4A
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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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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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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 -
"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
CA4: Def in rental car preserved standing issue; remanded for application of Byrd
Defendant was in a rental car, and he moved to suppress. He was denied standing under existing case law, but that was abrogated in Byrd. SCOTUS GVR’ed. Remanded for application of Byrd and whatever else. United States v. Houston, 2018 … Continue reading
M.D.La.: Leaving one’s garage door open is not a waiver of REP or standing
Defendant’s garage door was left open, and that reduced his reasonable expectation of privacy in it, but that didn’t mean he had no standing. By leaving open the garage, defendant didn’t invite the police in, and exigent circumstances or a … Continue reading
CA9: Def didn’t have standing in her parents’ house that she used just to store stuff
Defendant kept stuff at her parents’ house, which was searched with a warrant for her stuff. She lacked standing because it was merely a storage place shared with others. The search warrant was narrowed by the district court with partial … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Overnight guest didn’t have standing in attic
Defendant was an overnight guest in a house searched with a warrant. A protective sweep of the attic was done, and the only way into the attic was from the room defendant was staying in. The court first finds that … Continue reading
KS: Guest standing doesn’t require overnight stays to be substantial enough
To have standing to challenge a home search, a guest must show a degree of acceptance into the household or an ongoing and meaningful connection to the host’s residence so that the guest has a reasonable expectation of privacy in … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Collins v. Virginia doesn’t apply to a shared parking area which is not curtilage
Collins v. Virginia does not apply to shared parking areas which are not curtilage. “United States v. Jones, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 16409 (2d Cir. June 19, 2018), Jones’s vehicle was parked in a parking lot behind the multi-family building … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: No standing in car where permission to borrow had been revoked
Defendant had permission to possess and drive a car for a while, but it had been rescinded by the time of the search. Therefore, he lacked standing in the car. United States v. Leclear, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106550 (N.D. … Continue reading
CA6: Removing records from a storage unit as police search your house was an obstruction of justice
Federal agents showed up at defendant’s house with a search warrant for records. They asked if he had other records elsewhere. He lied and said no. He left the house, went to a hardware store to buy boltcutters, and he … Continue reading
D.S.C.: One innocently driving a stolen vehicle generally doesn’t have standing in it, but he has to show his innocent status
One innocently driving a stolen vehicle generally doesn’t have standing in it. If, however, he innocently buys a stolen vehicle and then he’s stopped in it, it’s his burden to show that he was an innocent purchaser to acquire standing. … Continue reading
OR: Guest standing is functional to the relationship to the residence and here didn’t cover under the back steps
Guest standing has a functional element. Defendant was a guest in the home of another and their relationship was founded on drugs. While defendant would have standing in the home, he didn’t under the back steps, where, incidentally, he’d been … Continue reading
VI: BOLO information shared at beginning of shift satisfies collective knowledge
BOLO information shared with officers at the beginning of their shift qualifies as collective knowledge. Emanuel v. People, 2018 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 10 (June 15, 2018) (relying on United States v. Braden, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115755 (W.D. Tenn. July … Continue reading
Cal.1: Electronic search condition on juvenile was unreasonable for possession of a knife and rolling papers at school
The electronic search condition on this juvenile for having a knife, rolling papers, and a lighter in school after a school search was unreasonable. The state says its need to prevent him from procuring more marijuana, but the court disagrees. … Continue reading
CA11: Def counsel wasn’t ineffective for not pursuing suppression motion after def admitted facts showing no standing
Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not adequately pursuing defendant’s motion to suppress because defendant admitted to counsel facts after the motion was filed that he had no standing at all. He provided that address as his address, but he was … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Def’s admissions on body camera duffle bag wasn’t his denies him standing
“The body camera recording clearly shows that Defendant denied any ownership interest in the duffel bag at the time of the stop. As such, the Court finds that Defendant voluntarily abandoned the duffel bag and therefore lost any reasonable expectation … Continue reading
LA3: Ping order for def’s cell phone was based on exigency
The police ping request to locate defendant’s phone to locate him was based on clear exigent circumstances. Thus, it did not violate the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2702(c)(4). State v. Malveaux, 2018 La. App. LEXIS 1082 (La. App. … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Def lacked standing to challenge SW to YouTube for search history and videos viewed in terrorism case
Defendant was indicted for providing material support to a terrorist organization and planned to travel to Afghanistan, and there were nine search warrants. She communicated with Afghanistan on digital devices and by a gmail account. The search warrants for all … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Def was essentially and admittedly an “innocent bystander” at the place searched and had no standing
This defendant had no standing in the condo that was searched under a search warrant. He produced nothing to show that he had any connection to the property or was a guest with a connection to the premises, even an … Continue reading
SCOTUS: The driver of a rental car not on the contract may have a REP in the car
The driver of a rental car not listed on the contract may have a reasonable exception of privacy in the car Byrd v. United States, 2018 U.S. LEXIS 2803 (May 14, 2018). Syllabus:
CA5: When govt addresses GFE, defendant must respond or waive it
In the Fifth Circuit it’s good faith first, probable cause second. The government addressed good faith in its brief, but defendant didn’t in his. Good faith prevails. United States v. Carroll, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 12280 (5th Cir. May 10, … Continue reading
MS: A passenger in car 20 min before stop had no standing
Defendant was in the car that was stopped for 20 minutes and admittedly had no possessory interest in the car. Therefore, he had no standing. Nowell v. State, 2018 Miss. App. LEXIS 210 (May 1, 2018). “Williams argues the search … Continue reading