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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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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 -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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) -
“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!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Warrant requirement
E.D.Mich.: Email SW signed on SignNow app valid
An email search warrant signed by the issuing judge on a tablet with the SignNow app was valid. United States v. Lantzy, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50057 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 24, 2020). “We conclude that the circumstances here were such … Continue reading
M.D.N.C.: Two SWs were issued, and second did not supersede the first
Two search warrants were issued May 28 & 29, 2019. They were both issued with probable cause, they weren’t stale, and the second did not supersede the first. No case supports this latter argument. United States v. Atkins, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
MT: Mandamus to get SW materials from 1998 denied for complete failure to comply with mandamus statute
Mandamus to get search warrant materials from 1998 denied: “Insua’s instant petition is lacking because it does not conform to Montana statutes. He has not filed a verified petition or included an affidavit, pursuant to § 27-26-201, MCA. Insua has … Continue reading
CA11: Pro se litigant doesn’t sufficiently allege issuing magistrate wasn’t “neutral and detached”
Pro se prisoner’s complaint against the search warrant process in Georgia fails for a multitude of reasons and is legally frivolous. State law on search warrant does not conflict with federal law and he doesn’t sufficiently allege that the issuing … Continue reading
CA10: NM metropolitan courts can issue SWs; they’re not governed by Rule 41, just the 4A
The New Mexico metropolitan court had jurisdiction to issue search warrants even though it had no general jurisdiction over felony cases. A state issued search warrant doesn’t need to comply with Rule 41; it only need comply with the Fourth … Continue reading
C.D.Ill.: SW for premises need not state the owner’s name
Defendant was observed doing four controlled buys, and he went back to his girlfriend’s house in her car each time. “Defendant contends that the affidavit lacked probable cause because it did not state who owned the Residence, whether Defendant lived … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Typo in SW for emails could be overlooked in “common sense,” nontechnical reading
There was a typo in the affidavit for search warrant for emails, and the government procured another. The typo wasn’t even material because a “common sense” reading of the whole affidavit shows it was typographical error that could be overcome. … Continue reading
WA: Affidavit and SW didn’t need to specify statutes of crimes under investigation when it was apparent it was murder
The search warrant of defendant’s place for trace evidence of a dead body rather than the body itself was reasonable because the police had information that the body had been burned in a fire pit. In addition, the affidavit and … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: One officer can swear to an affidavit prepared by another under the 4A
The fact one officer swore to an affidavit prepared by another on the other’s knowledge is not a constitutional violation. Moreover, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Parrish, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178155 (N.D. W.Va. Oct. 15, 2019). … Continue reading
S.D.Tex.: Emergency court order to remove children from home satisfied warrant requirement of 4A
An emergency family court order to take custody of children satisfied the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. “The April 6, 2017 order is equivalent to a warrant satisfying the Fourth Amendment. See Gates v. Tex. Dept. of Prot. & … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: Oral military search authorizations do not violate 4A or Rule 41
Oral search warrant requests and authorizations under M.R.E. 315 do not violate the Fourth Amendment or Rule 41. Many cases so hold. The violation of the SOP manual for military magistrates wasn’t serious enough to justify suppression nor prevent the … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Typo that SW had to be served same day it was issued could be overlooked
Typo on a search warrant that it had to be executed the same day it was issued could be overlooked. It was issued mid-afternoon; it clearly didn’t require that the probable cause would cease to exist at 11:59 pm that … Continue reading
VT: SW target gets a hearing on whether he gets access to his own SW materials
“In this matter, Jacob Oblak petitioned the superior court for access to an affidavit of probable cause filed in a criminal case and was denied.” The public access to records rule has another rule for exceptions was not properly applied. … Continue reading
MD: Judge sanctioned for, among other things, not properly handling the SW paperwork allowed to accumulate in her office rather than get it matched up and filed
A Baltimore City judge was suspended for six months for multiple things, one of which was not timely matching up 135 search warrants and applications and returns that had accumulated in her office for filing. Also, a staff member turned … Continue reading
IL: 8 month delay in getting SW for seized computers was unreasonable
The state’s eight month delay in seeking a search warrant for defendant’s computers seized under a warrant was unjustified and unreasonable. The state’s reasoning was it didn’t “want to step on the toes of the IRS” and it took the … Continue reading
C.D.Ill.: Def’s name and address aren’t constitutionally required to be in the SW
Defendant’s 2255 claim that his name and address weren’t in the search warrant doesn’t state any ground for relief because neither is constitutionally required. Lopez v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105807 (C.D. Ill. June 25, 2019). The affidavit … Continue reading
KY: A court order doesn’t need to be titled “search warrant” to be considered one.
A court order doesn’t need to be titled “search warrant” to be considered one. The statute involved says a “search warrant” is required, but any court order issued on probable cause is valid. Whitlow v. Commonwealth, 2019 Ky. LEXIS 205 … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: State judge’s notes of oral testimony for SW may be considered in federal court
Under the “four corners rule,” only the content of the affidavit for search warrant can be considered, but what about unrecorded oral testimony in support? New York procedural law requires the issuing magistrate who considers oral representations in further support … Continue reading
TN: “Process” in a child exploitation statute does not include SWs; legislature could have added SWs if it intended that
“We granted permission to appeal in this case in order to determine whether Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-1007, which provides that ‘[n]o process, except as otherwise provided, shall be issued for the violation of [the statutes proscribing the offenses of … Continue reading