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- D.Ariz.: SW for firearm didn’t go stale
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- N.D.Ohio: Two dog sniffs didn’t provide PC for vehicle search
- GA reaffirms a constitutional right of privacy in medical records
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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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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)
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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: Informant hearsay
FL3: Frisk can occur immediately after stop
The stop was with reasonable suspicion, and the frisk can occur immediately. The trial court’s holding it couldn’t has no support in law. State v. Lyles, 2026 Fla. App. LEXIS 5911 (Fla. 3d DCA Aug. 5, 2026). The CI was … Continue reading
N.D.N.Y.: Confrontation clause doesn’t apply in suppression hearings
Hearsay may be relied upon in a suppression hearing, and the confrontation clause doesn’t apply. United States v. Albert, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168169 (N.D.N.Y. July 29, 2026):
Cal.4: No error not unsealing CI’s identity in SW application
The trial court didn’t err in refusing to unseal part of the search warrant affidavit that disclosed the identity of the CI because the state informer privilege applied. The sealing issue still gets reviewed on appeal where the court of … Continue reading
NY4: Payton does not apply to an arrest in a common area of an apartment building
Payton v. New York does not apply to an arrest in a common area of an apartment building. People v. Kadenhead, 2026 NY Slip Op 04680 (4th Dept. July 24, 2026). There was probable cause for defendant’s arrest on a … Continue reading
S.D.Miss.: Ptf’s roadside vagina search states a claim
Plaintiff’s § 1983 complaint over a roadside vaginal body cavity search concededly states enough to go forward as a potential Fourth Amendment violation. Some of the state claims fail. Upton v. Moulds, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159277 (S.D. Miss. July … Continue reading
MO: When officers came with an arrest warrant, def’s admission he had a firearm justified the entry
Officers came to defendant’s house with an arrest warrant. When they entered they asked him about any weapons in the house before a protective sweep. He directed them to a gun in the bedroom. That was all reasonable and inevitable … Continue reading
CA6: CI’s lie to get into def’s house to video him making a drug deal with the CI didn’t violate 4A
The informant’s lie to get into defendant’s house to video him making a drug deal with the CI didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. See Lewis v. United States, 385 U.S. 206, 210 (1966). United States v. Warick, 2026 U.S. App. … Continue reading
GA: No REP in what a security camera saw that def installed in friends’ house when he was there sexually assaulting their daughter
Defendant was a friend of the family, and he came over to install an additional security camera inside the house. Later, that camera caught him sexually assaulting one of the girls. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy despite spending … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: Inventory that omitted “miscellaneous personal items” was not unreasonable
A “clumsy” inventory that omitted “miscellaneous personal items” was not an unreasonable inventory. No level of specificity is required. United States v. Samuels, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96304 (S.D. Fla. May 1, 2026). The CSAM search warrant here for ten … Continue reading
CA4: The fact that ptf charged with witness intimidation didn’t do it again wasn’t material for Franks
Defendant was charged with witness intimidation for contact with a witness in a criminal case of his. That charge was later dropped, and he sued. Defendants didn’t violate Franks by not mentioning that he never did it again. That’s not … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Search incident could be done on FTA arrest
Defendant was arrested on a state Capias for FTA issued in open court. The search incident to the arrest was valid. United States v. Barnhart, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91284 (E.D. Va. Apr. 24, 2026). Defendant’s conviction is affirmed. There … Continue reading
CA10: Disagreement over spelling of street name didn’t make warrant fail particularity; GFE at least would apply
“The warrant authorized a search of 10 McGinnis Street, Eufaula, OK 74432. The correct address, Mr. Davis said, was 10 Meginnis Street, Eufaula, OK 74432. And beyond the address, the warrant contained no description of the house.” The suppression hearing … Continue reading
D.Idaho: Not unreasonable for PO to hand over def’s cell phone to LEO for extraction after RS developed from Snapchat app
Defendant missed a PO visit, and they went to his house. There, they got his cell phone and looked at his Snapchat app finding messages between him and a 14 year old. It was not unreasonable for them to hand … Continue reading
D.Me.: Entering passcode into cell phone to see if it works is not a search
Defendant’s cell phone was seized and a warrant obtained to search it, but it was protected by a passcode and the phone was not searched. So, a couple of months later, they tried again with a new warrant. The information … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Video surveillance of public housing hallways is like a pole camera with no REP
Plaintiff sued a public housing project which has sophisticated video surveillance but only in common areas. The court holds that it doesn’t rise to the level of the mosaic theory and is more akin to a pole camera. Pondexter-Moore v. … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: CI’s being incorrect about which drug was involved wasn’t material
The CI’s being incorrect about which drug was involved isn’t really a Franks violation. United States v. Mooneyham, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67746 (E.D. Tenn. Mar. 30, 2026). Plaintiff reasonably believed that one of the officers was sitting on him … Continue reading
NC: Informant doesn’t need “track record” to be creditable
The informant doesn’t need a “track record” to be credited as a source of information. State v. Vandergrift, 2026 N.C. App. LEXIS 202 (Mar. 18, 2026). Police responded to a stolen ATM report and found defendant near an ATM in … Continue reading
CA5: No REP against license plate readers
License plate readers violate no reasonable expectation of privacy. Also, the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion. United States v. Porter, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7888 (5th Cir. Mar. 17, 2026). The informant’s information was sufficient to show probable cause … Continue reading
CA11: 4A doesn’t require “in the presence of the officer” for misdemeanor arrest
While Georgia law requires a misdemeanor offense be in the presence of the officer, the Fourth Amendment does not. The arrest was constitutionally valid. Middlebrooks v. Kasmar, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 5855 (11th Cir. Feb. 27, 2026). There was information … Continue reading