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- OR: Even if original served warrant wasn’t the one returned, it doesn’t warrant suppression
- Two on suicide calls as exigency
- W.D.N.Y.: Civil discovery dispute denies access to other employees’ cell phones as 4A issue
- Reason: All New Cars Could Have Mandatory Surveillance Tech Unless Congress Stops This Mandate
- CA3: In seeking arrest warrants, officers need not present all exculpatory evidence to issuing magistrate unless it’s “conclusive”
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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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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
MT: Search of electronics under SW needs to start by SW expiration, not be completed
The search warrant for numerous electronic devices (phones and tablets) was served within ten days but the search couldn’t be completed for longer than that. The grant of the motion to suppress because of the delay is reversed. The warrant … Continue reading
CA8: Takedown was lawful, assault thereafter wasn’t
Plaintiff’s takedown was lawful, but not the assault after he was down. “It is even more clearly established now. A suspect’s ‘right[] to be free from excessive force [is] violated if officers choke, kick, or punch [him] when [he is] … Continue reading
NY3: No REP in SHU surveillance
Defendant was in a special housing unit in a NY state prison. He knew he was under constant surveillance. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in admissions he made caught on video. People v. Ashcroft, 2024 NY Slip Op … Continue reading
MO: Def’s 4A ineffective assistance claim fails because he doesn’t show he’d prevail on the 4A claim
Defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim was based on defense counsel’s failure to file a motion to suppress of a marital vehicle. He never, however, showed that he did, in fact, have standing. Moreover, the trial court found that the … Continue reading
CA11: Body slam of slighter built resisting arrestee was reasonable force
The officer’s body slam of a resisting minor suspect about half his weight was entitled to qualified immunity. “But even if the facts of our case did fit Richmond, the statement that ‘less force is appropriate’ would not put every … Continue reading
Force Science: Officer-created jeopardy: A legal theory that threatens effective policing
Force Science via Police 1: Officer-created jeopardy: A legal theory that threatens effective policing by Lewis “Von” Kliem (“The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Barnes v. Felix, a case that could redefine how officers’ split-second decisions are judged” [¶] … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: The affiant’s passing on alleged exaggerations from other officers wasn’t material to PC
Relying on reports of other officers that could have been exaggerations in part didn’t show that the affiant was intentionally or recklessly misleading the court. Also, “the Defendant has failed to demonstrate that Officer Granville’s inclusion of the exaggerated statement … Continue reading
AZ: A traffic offense could be used to stop defendant to question him about a fatal accident 11 days earlier
Defendant committed a traffic offense and was stopped. Officers had reasonable suspicion he left the scene of a fatal accident 11 days earlier, and officers wanted to talk to him about that. The stop was not pretextual because there was … Continue reading
D.Utah: Positive CODIS hit justifies SW for DNA for confirmation
“Contrary to Defendant’s view, the positive CODIS hit did not ‘only amount[] to an investigative lead at best ….’ It is well-established that a blood match from a reputable, national database that links a defendant to a crime scene establishes … Continue reading
Reason: Cop who fired blindly into Breonna Taylor’s home is convicted of violating her constitutional rights
Reason: Cop who fired blindly into Breonna Taylor’s home is convicted of violating her constitutional rights by Jacob Sullum (“Former Louisville detective Brett Hankison was convicted of violating Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights during the deadly 2020 raid.”):
CA5: Police shooting from behind after escalating violent situation was not unreasonable
The police shooting here from behind was not unreasonable on the totality. “When McVae threw the rock, Trooper Perez had to make an immediate reflexive decision of how to protect himself in a rapidly evolving situation against an increasingly violent … Continue reading
CA2: 4A doesn’t incorporate state procedural rules and statutes
The constitution doesn’t incorporate state criminal procedural rules and statutes, and a violation of them doesn’t make a Fourth Amendment violation. See Virginia v. Moore. McCullough v. Graves, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 27503 (2d Cir. Oct. 30, 2024). The address … Continue reading
OH7: Postal worker’s information about defendant’s cash and mail was PC for warrant
A postal worker’s information that defendant had lots of cash and was receiving packages that smelled like marijuana was probable cause for his house. State v. Middleton, 2024-Ohio-5172, 2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 3877 (7th Dist. Oct. 28, 2024).* The use … Continue reading
CA6: Realtime ping information didn’t require a warrant
“Perry first challenges the validity of the search warrants for call and location data from his two cellphones. Law-enforcement officers generally need a warrant to conduct a ‘search’ that intrudes upon a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy. … But a … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Four-month delay in searching lawfully seized cell phone here not unreasonable
Four month delay in searching cell phones after lawfully seizing them was not unreasonable. “Defendant relies primarily on United States v. Smith, a Second Circuit case. … There, in assessing whether a thirty-one day delay between police seizing a tablet … Continue reading
DE: Nexus for SW for car did not extend to def’s house
The nexus in the affidavit for the warrant for defendant’s car did not extend to his house, so there was no probable cause for the house search. (The search is valid, however, from inevitable discovery. “That said, because the State … Continue reading
W.D.Ark.: State remedy for return of property bars § 1983 claim for it
Plaintiff’s § 1983 suit for return of property is denied because there is a state law remedy, even if a federal claim was barred by Heck. Owens v. Samuel, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189894 (W.D. Ark. Sep. 24, 2024), adopted, … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: T.L.O. informs the use of handcuffs in school v. excessive force
T.L.O. informs the use of handcuffs in school v. excessive force. Here, the student was objectively enough of a safety risk to justify handcuffs. “Further, because the Fourth Amendment reasonableness inquiry is an objective standard, more discovery to determine Defendants’ … Continue reading
CA3: Collective knowledge applies to reasons to extend a stop
With collective knowledge there was reason to extend the stop. United States v. McAliley, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 25982 (3d Cir. Oct. 15, 2024).* (After all, collective knowledge applies to reasonable suspicion too.) The USMJ’s decision denying the motion to … Continue reading