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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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"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
ND: Probation search of cell phone permitted even though not specified in probation search statute
North Dakota statute on probation searches says: “Defendant shall submit to search of his person, vehicle, or place of residence by any probation officer at any time of the day or night, with or without a search warrant.” Even though … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Text messages to 11 year old boy for sex was justification for warrantless seizure of cell phone
The seizure of defendant’s cell phone incident to his arrest was reasonable. Defendant was accused by an 11 year old boy of sexual conduct on Fort Campbell, and the FBI and Army CID investigated and got enough information to have … Continue reading
D.Md.: A cell phone found on a drug dealer is virtually per se probable cause there is evidence to be found on it; it’s a “tool of the trade”
A cell phone found on a drug dealer is virtually per se probable cause there is evidence to be found on it. Thus, there was PC for a warrant and nexus to the crime. United States v. Fisher, 2015 U.S. … Continue reading
Police Technical: Acquiring Android Data Using JTAG (whitepaper)
Police Technical: Acquiring Android Data Using JTAG (whitepaper) Detective Robert Craig covers how to retreive data from an Android device using the Joint Test Access Group (JTAG).
CA6: PC for a cell phone SW shown because it was used in a fraud case; computer search standards applied and satisfied
In a fraud case, probable cause was shown to search a cell phone for both evidence of the fraud and text messages where the co-conspirators were communicating with each other. Nexus was shown because defendant was using his cell phone … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: There is standing in a borrowed cell phone; no justification here for search
Defendant’s denial of ownership of a cell phone in his car was not determinative of his standing to challenge its search. Actually, he was loaned the phone because his was broken, and he was legitimately in possession. The question posed … Continue reading
LA2: Removing back of cell phone to get IMSI for SW application didn’t violate any REP
Defendant’s cell phone was lawfully seized at the time of his arrest. Two days later, the back of the phone was removed to get the IMSI number (serial number) to get a search warrant. The contents of the phone were … Continue reading
Police Technical: iOS8 Mobile Operating System Encryption Issues
Police Technical: iOS8 Mobile Operating System Encryption Issues (Whitepaper download) When an iOS 8 device is locked – a new encryption feature will not allow even Apple technicians to access the device. This whitepaper covers how to access a locked … Continue reading
NC: If def was an innocent owner of a stolen cell phone, he’d have standing; remanded because no findings on that
Defendant had a cell phone removed from him in a search incident that was searched without a warrant. It was determined that the phone was stolen. Defendant asserted an innocent owner defense that the trial court did not resolve, and, … Continue reading
MS: Search warrant to seize cell phone fairly includes ability to search it
The search warrant to seize defendant’s cell phone, fairly read, permitted a search of the phone for photographs of defendant’s sexual battery of the victim. Moore v. State, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 182 (April 7, 2015). The invalidity of the … Continue reading
PA: Things “in regards to alleged sexual misconduct with a fourteen year old female” particular enough for a cell phone SW
“Contrary to Dougalewicz’s assertion, the Search Warrants sufficiently identified and limited the items to be searched and seized as text messages, phone calls and picture mail from and to the Verizon and Sprint phones, ‘in regards to alleged sexual misconduct … Continue reading
D.Nev.: SW request for Apple to unlock iPads and iPhones denied as a general search and without search protocol
The government’s request for a search warrant for Apple to unlock and override passwords on four iPads and two iPhones is denied. The search warrant application lacks probable cause and no search warrant protocol for electronic devices. It amounts to … Continue reading
CA1: There was RS for the border search of defendant’s computer and cell phones
Defendant made his fifth short trip from Puerto Rico to Colombia in a few months, and he was flagged for secondary border screening. His older but operational laptop had no data on it. Questions about his trip made no real … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Passenger’s unexplained flight from car was abandonment of his backpack
In a traffic stop, the passenger fled for no apparent reason. The backpack he left behind was abandoned property. Officers waited for his return before searching it. United States v. Nowak, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35351 (D.S.D. March 19, 2015), … Continue reading
WA: Leaving cell phone fleeing from a stolen car was abandonment; no SW required for abandoned property
Defendant was seen in a stolen car and the police gave chase. He bailed from the car and ran, leaving his cell phone behind. The cell phone was abandoned property, and it could be searched without a warrant. Here, the … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: CSLI doesn’t yet require a SW; if it now did, Davis GFE would apply
Obtaining Cell site location information doesn’t yet require a search warrant on probable cause under ECPA or the Fourth Amendment in the Ninth Circuit or in any district court in the circuit. Even if all those courts are wrong, the … Continue reading
Daily Report: Full Eleventh Circuit Hears Cellphone Privacy Case
Daily Report: Full Eleventh Circuit Hears Cellphone Privacy Case by Alyson Palmer: Backed by groups concerned about government intrusion on privacy, a criminal defense attorney on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to put the brakes on the warrantless acquisition … Continue reading
Forbes: Drones Are Intercepting Cell Phone Signals in L.A.
Forbes: Drones Are Intercepting Cell Phone Signals in L.A. by Frank Bi: Even before the Federal Aviation Administration unveiled its proposed regulations for commercial drone flights in the United States last week, one company was already at work, using drones … Continue reading
WaPo: Secrecy around police surveillance equipment proves a case’s undoing
WaPo: Secrecy around police surveillance equipment proves a case’s undoing By Ellen Nakashima:
D.Kan.: There must be a search protocol for cell phone searches to prevent general searches
There must be a search protocol for cell phone searches to prevent general searches. In re Cellular Telephones, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182165 (D.Kan. December 30, 2014). This is an important opinion, and it’s free online: