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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,
citations, and links -
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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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"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: National security
FISC: New FREEDOM Act had a 180 grace period for surveillance
“‘Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,’ well, at least for 180 days. This application presents the question whether the recently-enacted USA FREEDOM Act, in amending Title V of FISA, ended the bulk collection of telephone metadata. The short … Continue reading
The Hill: Court won’t reconsider ruling upholding NSA spying
The Hill: Court won’t reconsider ruling upholding NSA spying by Julian Hattem: A federal appeals court on Friday declined to take up a lower court’s decision upholding National Security Agency surveillance, in a blow to privacy advocates who have called … Continue reading
On the Media and the PATRIOT Act
On the Media: Surveillance Beyond the Patriot Act We all know the Patriot Act, but lesser-known programs like Executive Order 12333 account for the bulk of government surveillance–and receive even less oversight. The Patriot Act’s Unintended Consequences Ultimately, our assumption … Continue reading
WaPo: NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records to end
WaPo: NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records to end by Ellen Nakashima: The National Security Agency on Sunday will end its mass collection of data about Americans’ phone calls under the Patriot Act, 2½ years after a leak by … Continue reading
The Hill: Spy court appoints new advisers under NSA reform law
The Hill: Spy court appoints new advisers under NSA reform law by Julian Hattem: The selections earned some early praise from privacy advocates.
NY Times: Editorial: Mass Surveillance Isn’t the Answer to Fighting Terrorism
NY Times: Editorial: Mass Surveillance Isn’t the Answer to Fighting Terrorism It’s a wretched yet predictable ritual after each new terrorist attack: Certain politicians and government officials waste no time exploiting the tragedy for their own ends. The remarks on … Continue reading
NPR: Paris Attacks Bring Domestic Surveillance Into Presidential Race
NPR: Paris Attacks Bring Domestic Surveillance Into Presidential Race by Scott Detrow
The Hill: NSA’s new surveillance system is nearly operational
The Hill: NSA’s new surveillance system is nearly operational by Julian Hattem: That system will replace the government’s sweeping collection of phone call records with a process in which NSA officials obtain court orders to access a narrower set of … Continue reading
Poliitco: Magazine: Barack Obama, Lawyer-in-Chief
Poliitco: Magazine: Barack Obama, Lawyer-in-Chief by Charlie Savage: Why did a liberal professor embrace the Bush surveillance state? Look to the law.
D.D.C.: NSA’s Bulk Telephony Metadata Program enjoined
The NSA’s Bulk Telephony Metadata Program is enjoined. Plaintiffs have shown likelihood of showing standing with a new party who is a Verizon customer (“Given the strong presumption that the NSA collected, and warehoused, the Little plaintiff’s data within the … Continue reading
The Hill: Blog: Drones are a national security nightmare
The Hill: Blog: Drones are a national security nightmare by Joel D. Joseph: The Federal Aviation Administration is rushing to pass regulations of drones within the next thirty days so that drones can be under your Christmas tree. Frankly, we … Continue reading
D.Md.: Another NSA suit fails for lack of standing under Clapper
In another case against the NSA, plaintiffs can’t show standing under Clapper because the injury is speculative because the NSA doesn’t tell us what it’s doing, so the case is dismissed. Wikimedia Foundation v. National Security Agency Central Security Service, … Continue reading
Wall Street Journal Law Blog: Spy Court Recruits Outside Lawyer in Phone-Records Case
Wall Street Journal Law Blog: Spy Court Recruits Outside Lawyer in Phone-Records Case by Joe Palazzolo: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court occupies a super secure space inside the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, behind a biometric hand-scanner … Continue reading
The Guardian: Court hears first arguments in case challenging bulk data collection by NSA
The Guardian: Court hears first arguments in case challenging bulk data collection by NSA by Nicky Wolff:
NY Times: N.S.A. Will Not Be Allowed to Keep Old Phone Records
NY Times: N.S.A. Will Not Be Allowed to Keep Old Phone Records by Charlie Savage: Analysts at the National Security Agency will no longer be permitted to search a database holding five years of Americans’ domestic calling records after Nov. … Continue reading
The Hill: Senate barrels toward crucial NSA votes
The Hill: Senate barrels toward crucial NSA votes by Julian Hattem: Pressure is mounting on the GOP to back a reform bill, but its fate is far from certain.
The Hill: Reid pressures GOP on NSA bill
The Hill: Reid pressures GOP on NSA bill by Jordain Carney: Senators are split on how to handle expiring sections of the Patriot Act.
WaPo: Why the ruling against the NSA’s phone records program could have huge implications
WaPo: Why the ruling against the NSA’s phone records program could have huge implications by Andrea Peterson: A federal appeals court ruling that the National Security Agency’s collection of millions of Americans’ phone records is illegal could undercut more than … Continue reading
LawFare: “Reasonable Search” or “Reasonable Expectation of Privacy:” A Brief Reply to Orin Kerr on the 2nd Circuit’s Decision
LawFare: “Reasonable Search” or “Reasonable Expectation of Privacy:” A Brief Reply to Orin Kerr on the 2nd Circuit’s Decision by Yishai Schwartz: Thursday’s 2nd Circuit decision striking down 215 ends with a brief, and unresolved, rumination on the impact explicit … Continue reading
EFF Case Analysis: Appeals Court Rules NSA Phone Records Dragnet is Illegal
EFF Case Analysis: Appeals Court Rules NSA Phone Records Dragnet is Illegal by Andrew Crocker: We now have the first decision from a court of appeals on the NSA’s mass surveillance program involving bulk collection of telephone records under Section … Continue reading