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- TX1: Def has a duty to make his record on PC and the SW; missing affidavit was on him
- N.D.Ala.: SW not invalid because issuing judge previously represented the target
- The Guardian: ‘We should be worried’: report sheds light on ICE’s booming arsenal of hi-tech surveillance tools
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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)
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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
Law360: Discarded Phone Rulings Misapply 4th Amendment Case Law
Law360: Discarded Phone Rulings Misapply 4th Amendment Case Law
FL1: Foregone conclusion exception applies to compelling def’s cell phone password
The foregone conclusion exception applies to compelling defendant’s cell phone password, thus distinguishing Pollard v. State, 287 So. 3d 649 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019). Varn v. State, 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 12478 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 3, 2020):
CA5: RS required for border search of digital devices
Based on some other circuits, digital forensic searches require at least reasonable suspicion and no warrant. Defendant’s digital search complied with the rules of other circuits, so it was at least in good faith. United States v. Aguilar, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Mask ordinance doesn’t violate 4A right of privacy
The City of Springfield mask ordinance does not violate, inter alia, the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. Shelton v. City of Springfield, 6:20-cv-03258 (W.D. Mo. Sept. 2, 2020). “In specifically detailing the criminal conduct under investigation, the search warrants provide … Continue reading
D.Alaska: SW for cell phone was broad; it had to be, but not unreasonably so
The search of defendant’s cell phone did not unreasonably exceed the search warrant for it which was necessarily broad. “As a threshold matter, the search did not exceed the scope of the warrant. Without contesting the validity of the warrant … Continue reading
FL5: Compelling password to cell phone violates 5A
An attempt to order a cell phone owner to provide his password to the phone is testimonial under the Fifth Amendment. The court also concludes the foregone conclusion doctrine does not apply. Garcia v. State, 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 12232 … Continue reading
N.D.Ill. rejects geofence warrant for cell phone and owner data as overbroad
A third geofence warrant to attempt to determine who was around stolen prescription medication. It too is denied as overbroad. In re Search of Info. Stored at Premises Controlled by Google, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152712 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 24, … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Guest who intended to spend the night had standing
Defendant had standing to contest a search of premises he was visiting and anticipated spending the night. He loses on the merits by his consent. United States v. Mack, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152664 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 24, 2020). Defendant’s … Continue reading
NJ: Once SW issues for cell phone, foregone conclusion exception to self-incrimination applies and password can be compelled
Once a search warrant issues for a cell phone, there is no privilege of self-incrimination in the phone barring compelled production of the password. The foregone conclusion exception to the Fifth Amendment applies. State v. Andrews, A-72-18 (N.J. Aug. 10, … Continue reading
NM: Calls to murder victim’s cell phone just before murder was PC to get CSLI on the phone
A shooting victim made and received cell phone calls to his phone and the calls were not in the contacts list 30 minutes before the victim was found dead. This was probable cause for data about that caller including the … Continue reading
CA11: A cell phone with 2kg of heroin and cash is PC for the phone
“[L]aw enforcement officers had probable cause to obtain a warrant to search the cell phone because it was found in a truck with two kilograms of heroin and $24,000 of loose currency during the investigation into the heroin-distribution conspiracy.” CoA … Continue reading
MN: Defense SDT for victim’s cell phone was not a 4A issue but was governed by law of subpoenas
The defendant in a sex case sought a subpoena duces tecum for the alleged victim’s cell phone. The state responded that the Fourth Amendment requires probable cause and an order. The court declines to find that the Fourth Amendment applies … Continue reading
CNET: Lawmaker questions Google’s CEO about geofence warrants
CNET: Lawmaker questions Google’s CEO about geofence warrants by Alfred Ng (“The warrants allow police to sweep up location data belonging to any people who were in a specific area. | Geofence warrants are facing legal challenges across the US, … Continue reading
NM: SW time limit to execute cell phone SW is from initial seizure, not the download
“[W]hen a warrant is issued to search an electronic device, that warrant is executed when the device is seized or the data is copied on-site, which must occur within Rule 5-211(C)’s ten-day time limit. Rule 5-211(C)’s ten-day time limit applies … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Six week delay in getting SW for electronics was reasonable; affidavit for SW showed scope of investigation
A six week delay between seizure of electronic devices and then seeking a warrant was reasonable. There likely was probable cause based on the seizure, but the affidavit for the warrant showed what the officers were doing in their “robust” … Continue reading
Cal.1: Cell phone ping to find def after a stabbing was with exigent circumstances
Police having defendant’s cell phone pinged to find him after a stabbing he was alleged to have done in a populated area was with exigent circumstances and reasonable. People v. Bowen, 2020 Cal. App. LEXIS 659 (1st Dist. July 15, … Continue reading
AP: Geofence warrants to be tested in VA bank robbery case
AP: Geofence warrants to be tested in Virginia bank robbery case (“Surveillance video gave authorities a lead, showing a man holding a cellphone outside the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian on May 20, 2019. So like a growing number of … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: SW can compel persons present at time of seizure of cellphone to provide biometrics to unlock it on mere RS; PC not required
“Modern day biometric authentication features for electronic devices allow once trivial gestures, such as a momentary stare or touch, to be the barrier between the outside world and an individual’s most intimate, private details. The United States has applied for … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Is changing cell phone settings before SW issued a search? SW moots that issue
The court does not have to decide whether changing the settings on defendant’s cell phone prior to obtaining a search warrant for it was a search. The later issuance of a search warrant for the phone moots that point because … Continue reading