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- N.D.Iowa: RS and PC for stop and then search, so justification for drug dog is irrelevant
- D.Ariz.: Alleged perjury at state suppression hearing doesn’t overcome Stone bar
- D.Md.: Claim for “constructive seizure” fails
- Reason: Controversial Geofence Warrants Face Supreme Court Challenge
- NJ: Alleged mistaken year in SW affidavit not a mere typo that can be overlooked
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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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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the 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, 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] -
“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) -
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: Cell phones
W.D.Okla.: Def bears no burden on applying crime-fraud exception to his cell phone search
The government seized this Oklahoman’s cell phone and searched it with a warrant. Oklahoma is largely marijuana legal. Pleading the crime-fraud exception, the government bears the burden of segregating the valid conversations from the federal conspiracy allegations. Defendant bears no … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: Frisk on entering VA hospital was justified on RS
Defendant’s frisk on entering a VA hospital could be justified as an area entry search, but the facts known to the officers, that defendant was already considered a safety risk, justified it by reasonable suspicion under Terry. United States v. … Continue reading
CA11: Off-site copying of def’s cell phone after the SW’s expiration date was permitted by Rule 41(e)(2)(B).
Off-site copying of defendant’s cell phone after the warrant’s expiration date was permitted by Rule 41(e)(2)(B). United States v. Hernandez, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 4990 (11th Cir. Feb. 19, 2026). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not filing a motion to … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: It’s not actually required a cell phone be involved in a crime; it’s whether it is likely it was
It’s not constitutionally required to show that a cell phone was actually used in a crime for probable cause to search it. It’s enough that it likely could have. “A law enforcement-affiant’s personal expertise combined with attestation to a defendant’s … Continue reading
AL: Trial court erred in finding cell phone SW didn’t provide for seizure and then search
The search warrant for defendant’s cell phone authorized both seizure and search of the phone, and the trial court was clearly erroneous in concluding that it did not permit a search, too. (The officer admitted working off a template cell … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: Postal workers have no REP in their work trucks
Postal workers have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their work trucks. It’s owned by the USPS and others always have access and they well know they are subject to surveillance on the job. United States v. Ayala, 2026 U.S. … Continue reading
404 Media: FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled
404 Media: FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled by Joseph Cox (“Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the … Continue reading
CT: Last person to contact victim alive was PC for his phone
Defendant was sexually involved with the victim, and he apparently was the last person to see her alive, and had contact with her after she disappeared. That was probable cause. State v. Johnson, 2026 Conn. LEXIS 19 (Feb. 3, 2026). … Continue reading
ID: Potential for destruction of evidence on cell phone was justification for its seizure
Defendant was reported for video voyeurism of his stepdaughter in the bathroom, and police got his phone, telling him they were seizing it. Then they got a warrant. The potential for destruction of evidence was sufficient justification for a warrantless … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Nexus shown to cell phone in harassing letters case
The ubiquity of cell phones makes them likely sources of evidence in crimes. Here, there was [at least a slim] nexus to the cell phone and iPad being involved in sending harassing letters. United States v. Goodman, 2026 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: 28-day delay in getting SW for phones wasn’t unreasonable here
Defendant was driving a car with a fraudulent VIN but claimed he knew nothing about that, having borrowed the car. Other things in the car added to probable cause to believe he was involved in frauds, and that ultimately led … Continue reading
OR: Being ordered to walk backwards toward officer with hands up is a seizure
The juvenile being ordered to walk backwards to the officer with hands up is a seizure, and here it was with reasonable suspicion. P.L. v. C.P.L. (In re C.), 346 Or. App. 499 (Jan. 22, 2026) (argued 18 months ago). … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: No showing of nexus to cell phones in pharmacy fraud
In a pharmacy fraud case, there was no showing of nexus to pharmacists’ cell phones. Motion to suppress cell phones is granted. Also, under Franks, with an omission a higher standard of intent to mislead applies. Also, the affidavit is … Continue reading
CNS: Maryland man argues arrest using cellphone tracking device violates the Fourth Amendment
CNS: Maryland man argues arrest using cellphone tracking device violates the Fourth Amendment by Sydney Haulenbeek (“His attorney argued the police ‘basically seized’ his phone with the equipment police used to locate him. [¶] “A Maryland man arrested after police … Continue reading
SC: DNA taken on 2007 arrest didn’t need to be suppressed because he was acquitted back then
Defendant’s DNA was taken when he was charged in 2007 and later acquitted. The DNA sample should not be suppressed because it was lawfully taken at the time. State v. Harrington, 2026 S.C. App. LEXIS 7 (Jan. 21, 2026). Defendant’s … Continue reading
D.Colo.: Large volume of emails can be seized for later narrowing search and still be particular
The email warrant was particular enough. While a large volume of information was provided by Google, it was then particularly searched, and that satisfies Rule 41 and the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Garcia, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9434 (D. … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Slight delay in searching a cell phone of a person in custody who couldn’t possess it was reasonable
Because he’s in custody, defendant has a diminished expectation of getting his cell phone back. The slight delay in getting a warrant has no case law cited in support, not that it matters. United States v. Holloman, 2026 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Cell site tower dump governed by Carpenter, but GFE applies here because there’s almost no case anywhere else
A cell site tower dump to see who was there at the time of the crime is governed by Carpenter, but the law is completely unclear and the good faith exception saves it. United States v. McDonald, 2026 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading