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- Reason: All New Cars Could Have Mandatory Surveillance Tech Unless Congress Stops This Mandate
- W.D.N.Y.: Civil discovery dispute denies access to other employees’ cell phones as 4A issue
- CA3: In seeking arrest warrants, officers need not present all exculpatory evidence to issuing magistrate unless it’s “conclusive”
- D.Idaho: Trial references to SW not barred, but govt limited in what it can say
- D.D.C.: PO’s alleged violation of probation regulations doesn’t warrant suppression if a reasonable mistake
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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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Section 1983 Blog -
"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: Excessive force
CA7: Ptf has burden to adequately respond to 4A qualified immunity claim when made by defense
Plaintiff didn’t sufficiently plead a Fourth Amendment violation and overcoming qualified immunity from the officer’s seizing his notebook and perusing it and handing it to another officer. It’s his burden to deal with qualified immunity, and he didn’t adequately respond. … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Ptf’s § 1983 case stayed where filed while underlying criminal case was ongoing
Plaintiff sued while his criminal trespass case was pending in state municipal court. The action is stayed because plaintiff can raise his constitutional claims there. Younger also counsels that. Spiehs v. Allen, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35038 (D. Kan. Feb. … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: Such is the risk of a no-knock warrant
“This case arises from an officer shooting the target of a search warrant. Detective Thomas Strode obtained a warrant to search Don Clark’s residence for illegal guns and drugs. As officers entered without knocking, Clark shot at the officers but … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: The Fulton County GA 2020 ballot seizure case is ordered unsealed
The Fulton County 2020 ballot seizure case is ordered unsealed. Pitts v. United States, No. 1:26-MI-00012-JPB, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28859 (N.D. Ga. Feb. 7, 2026). (Case number provided for Pacer users. I read the affidavit for warrant, and there … Continue reading
CA8: No QI for nearly point black shooting protestor in eye with less than lethal device
Shooting a protestor in the eye at point blank range with a “less than lethal” device that the officers are trained on and warned can actually be lethal was excessive force. No qualified immunity. Marks v. Bauer, 2026 U.S. App. … Continue reading
D.N.D.: PC shown for SW for drug trafficker’s car’s GPS
The search warrant for defendant’s vehicle’s GPS system used in his indictment for drug trafficking was based on probable cause. It also tracked the language of his cell phone warrant. United States v. Haymon, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24462 (D.N.D. … Continue reading
CA5 explaining clearly established law, again; fair notice to police
CA5 explaining clearly established law, again. Elizondo v. Hinote, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3713 (5th Cir. Feb. 5, 2026)*:
D.Md.: Premature filing of FTCA case over a search denies jurisdiction
Because plaintiff filed his FTCA case before the six-month window was up, the court lacks jurisdiction over it. There is also a Bivens claim for execution of a search warrant which the court finds different than Bivens. Wood v. United … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: No REP in one’s own property in a stolen car
Defendant was in a stolen car, so no standing at all under Byrd. (The convoluted issue of search incident after Gant with Fourth Circuit authority never revisited is avoided for now.) United States v. Tyson, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15809 … Continue reading
WaPo: Families of men killed in boat strikes sue Trump administration
WaPo: Families of men killed in boat strikes sue Trump administration by Mariana Alfaro & Dan Lamothe (“The families of two Trinidadian men killed in October during a U.S. strike on boats off the coast of Venezuela filed a wrongful-death … Continue reading
IL: Failure to conduct a preliminary hearing for PC mooted by conviction
Failure to conduct a preliminary hearing to establish probable cause is mooted by defendant’s conviction after trial. People v. Chambliss, 2026 IL 130585, 2025 Ill. LEXIS 7 (Jan. 23, 2026). “Lucas claims that Rubenstahl violated her Fourth Amendment right to … Continue reading
MS.now: Federal immigration agents keep shooting at drivers. We tracked 15 cases since July.
MS.now: Federal immigration agents keep shooting at drivers. We tracked 15 cases since July. By David Noriega & Kay Guerrero (“After each shooting, federal agencies claimed the drivers tried to ram agents with their vehicles. But the claim often falls … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: DHS’s motion for summary judgment denied; L.A. Press Club states cause of action for excessive force against press
The L.A. Press Club’s suit against DHS for excessive force against the press corps can proceed and summary judgment for the defense is denied. “The Court rejects Defendants’ standing and First Amendment arguments for reasons similar to those already articulated … 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.Kan.: Search incident of a car after DUI arrest was reasonable under Gant
Search incident of a car after DUI arrest was reasonable under Gant. United States v. Peralta, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7341 (D. Kan. Jan. 13, 2026). [It could also be argued that the automobile exception would work here, too, when … Continue reading
CA8: Ricocheting bullet not a seizure
Unintended shooting target: “When an officer fires at a dog, is there a seizure of the dog’s owner when the stray bullet hits her instead? We conclude the answer is no.” Hight v. Williams, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 781 (8th … Continue reading
CA9: RIPP restraint was seizure and no QI here
Decedent died in a police car with an RIPP restraint bending him backwards. That’s a seizure, and the officers here do not get qualified immunity in the excessive force claim. Gonzalez v. City of Phx., 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 426 … Continue reading
LATimes: Why LAPD and other police agencies discourage shooting at cars — and why ICE still does
LATimes: Why LAPD and other police agencies discourage shooting at cars — and why ICE still does by Libor Jany:
CA6: 4A doesn’t impose a “shot clock” on staleness
A three-week-old controlled buy was part of the probable cause. The Fourth Amendment doesn’t impose a “shot clock” on staleness. Nexus was clear: “The nexus in this case, by contrast, left nothing to the imagination.” Police used pole camera surveillance … Continue reading