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- NYTimes: Trump’s ‘Smart Wall’ of A.I. Cameras Is Watching the Border, and More Than a Million People
- S.D.Ohio: Affidavit alleged only that drug dealers use cell phones, and that’s not PC; but GFE saves it
- Reason: Iowa Voters Don’t Want Police or Flock Tracking Their Cars. Politicians Are Still Catching Up.
- Reason: The Founders Warned Against Secret Arrests. ICE Is Testing That Principle.
- UT: Lack of a bodycam doesn’t make officer not believable
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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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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)
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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)
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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: Cell phones
S.D.Ohio: Affidavit alleged only that drug dealers use cell phones, and that’s not PC; but GFE saves it
The affidavit for warrant for a cell phone relies entirely on the general use of cell phones in the drug trade. There’s no more, and that’s not probable cause. Still, however, the good faith exception saves it. United States v. … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: Def’s car in driveway next to sidewalk was not on curtilage
Defendant’s vehicle in his driveway 2-3 steps from the sidewalk was not on the curtilage. United States v. Polk, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 238708 (S.D. Ga. Oct. 19, 2026). “The Court finds, based on the totality of the circumstances, that … Continue reading
USA Today: Cell phone SW for cause of crash
USA Today: Woman accused of searching porn site before deadly crash by Julia Gomez (search warrant for cell phone seeking cause of accident).
N.D.Ga.: A Customs forensic search of a cell phone away from the border was still a border search
Defendant’s cell phone was seized at ATL Customs for a border search, and it went elsewhere for a forensic search. That search was still a border search. United States v. Vereen, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 238218 (N.D. Ga. Sep. 1, … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Second SW for cell phone data retained by govt was valid
This is a second motion to suppress a cell phone search, the first having been denied. A copy of the phone remains with the government, the phone having been returned. The first warrant to review the contents was for human … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: SW for cell phone on def at time of drug arrest was particular
Defendant’s cell phone particularity objection to the warrant fails because it showed (1) crime involved, (2) ID’ed them as found on him at time with a gun and drugs, and (3) showed nexus. Also, the good faith exception would apply. … Continue reading
Reason: Are Warrantless Phone Searches at the Border Constitutional? The Supreme Court May Soon Decide.
Reason: Are Warrantless Phone Searches at the Border Constitutional? The Supreme Court May Soon Decide. by Amy Piekoff:
CA2: Cell phone search reasonable at the border
At the border, defendant’s cell phone was first manually searched and then forensically searched. Neither was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Robinson, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 30035 (2d Cir. Oct. 1, 2026), following United States v. Alisigwe, … Continue reading
Reason: Border Agents Nabbed Their Phones. These Two Floridians Are Fighting Back.
Reason: Border Agents Nabbed Their Phones. These Two Floridians Are Fighting Back. by Matthew Petti (“Jalal ‘Jay’ Shehadeh had no reason to believe he was under suspicion from the government. A former assistant state attorney in Florida, he traveled frequently … Continue reading
Reason: Border Agents Search Phones Without Warrants. This Case Asks the Supreme Court if That’s Constitutional
Reason: Border Agents Search Phones Without Warrants. This Case Asks the Supreme Court if That’s Constitutional by Tosin Akintola (“Federal appeals courts differ on whether the Fourth Amendment protects your cellphone at the border. A Texas lawyer is asking the … Continue reading
MN: Risk of destruction of evidence was exigency for seizure of cell phone
The exigency for seizure of defendant’s cell phone pending getting a warrant was risk of destruction of evidence. State v. Laflex, 2026 Minn. LEXIS 592 (Sep. 23, 2026). Furtive movements add to reasonable suspicion. Ex parte Lucio, 2026 Tex. Crim. … Continue reading
GA: No case says SW required to ask for cell phone password
Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not arguing that a warrant was required for a request for a cell phone password. No case anywhere says that’s required. Reynolds v. State, 2026 Ga. LEXIS 303 (Sep. 22, 2026). The inventory search of … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Warrantless arrest at door for CSAM didn’t support plain view seizure of cell phone
Officers came to defendant’s house without an arrest or search warrant to arrest him for a CSAM offense. He answered the door in his underwear. They asked about cell phone and saw it and seized it. Payton applies, and the … Continue reading
CA2: Warrantless cell phone border search valid
Defendant, a permanent resident, was suspected of a multimillion dollar fraud with false identities. He was stopped at JFK coming back and his phone was seized and searched helping make the case against him. No warrant was needed for the … Continue reading
NC: Standing to contest search of hotel room doesn’t include other guest’s cell phone
As a guest of a guest, defendant had standing to contest the search of the hotel room, but he didn’t have standing to contest the search of the other tenant’s cell phone. State v. Miller, 2026 N.C. App. LEXIS 763 … Continue reading
S.D.Tex.: PayPal records were mere third-party records
Records from PayPal and Block were mere third-party records under Miller. The search of his cell phone at Customs at the Houston airport was a routine border search. Child pornography was found on it. United States v. Flores, 2026 U.S. … Continue reading
KS: Running warrants on a passed out person is reasonable
Defendant was passed out under a bridge, and the fire department and police were called. Firemen got her name and police ran a warrants check, finding one, and they arrested her. That was reasonable. State v. Willard, 2026 Kan. LEXIS … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: Unidentified pills in driver’s lap may have been RS but it wasn’t PC for arrest
Defendant was stopped for speeding, and he was arrested for drugs based on unidentified pills found in his lap when the officer looked in. That might have been reasonable suspicion, but it wasn’t probable cause. Therefore, the arrest and car … Continue reading
Reason: Border Agents Searched His Phone 5 Times Without a Warrant. He’s Asking the Supreme Court To Put a Stop to It.
Reason: Border Agents Searched His Phone 5 Times Without a Warrant. He’s Asking the Supreme Court To Put a Stop to It. by Elizabeth Nolan Brown (“The Fourth Amendment says authorities can’t search you or your things without probable cause … Continue reading