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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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--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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Excessive force
HI: Announcement not required for SW execution on open tent
Officers had a search warrant for a tent in a homeless encampment. Announcement before entry wasn’t required where the tent was not shut. State v. Keanaaina, 2022 Haw. LEXIS 44 (Mar. 22, 2022). Officers encountered defendant’s car double parked on … Continue reading
Denver7: Federal jury awards $14 million to protesters injured in 2020 demonstrations in Denver
Denver7: Federal jury awards $14 million to protesters injured in 2020 demonstrations in Denver (“Jury finds First, Fourth amendment violations of protesters by police”)
CA9: Two on QI: pepper spraying and Tasering
Officer denied qualified immunity for pepper-spraying a non-violent protester in the face. “In sum, every reasonable officer had notice at the time of the incident that, if reasonable alternatives are available, even in somewhat chaotic circumstances, he or she cannot … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Pretrial inmate mail was subject to search even though inmate handbook didn’t discuss it
While the pretrial inmate handbook didn’t say that outgoing mail was subject to inspection, the Supreme Court held in Stroud in 1919 that such searches were reasonable. And this one was too. United States v. Polanco, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
FL4: Suspicionless probation search condition violates state law
The probation search condition permitting one without reasonable suspicion violates state law. Remanded to strike it from probation terms. Bowman v. State, 2022 Fla. App. LEXIS 1611 (Fla. 4th DCA Mar. 9, 2022). Window tinting stop: “Moreover, because Trooper Otterson … Continue reading
CA6: Personal check with residence address used in scheme was nexus to home
The 70 page search warrant affidavit in a bribery and kickback scheme showed probable cause for defendant’s residence. Records already seen showed a personal check on the home address was involved. He also was alleged to have diverted patients to … Continue reading
CA6: With multiple uses of excessive force, each must be analyzed
“Where ‘a plaintiff claims that excessive force was used multiple times, “the court must segment the incident into its constituent parts and consider the officer’s entitlement to qualified immunity at each step along the way.”’ Wright, 962 F.3d at 865 … Continue reading
CA9: The “shocking the conscience” standard is higher than the 4A standard for use of force
The “shocking the conscience” standard is way higher than the Fourth Amendment standard in excessive force cases. “The plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment claim requires that the officers’ conduct ‘shocks the conscience’—a standard that is more demanding of the plaintiffs than the … Continue reading
NYLJ: Analysis: How Courts Determine the Constitutionality of Police Use of Deadly Force
NYLJ: Analysis: How Courts Determine the Constitutionality of Police Use of Deadly Force (“In determining ‘objective reasonableness’ in police use of deadly force cases, Martin Schwartz looks at the Tenth Circuit’s recent decision in’ Estate of Taylor v. Salt Lake … Continue reading
S.D.Ill.: CPS seizing child from home can be a 4A claim
A governmental actor taking a child from the home is determined under the Fourth Amendment if substantive due process does not apply. Brokaw v. Mercer County, 235 F.3d 1000, 1017-18 (7th Cir. 2000). H.P. v. Kelley, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA9: Civil 4A case requires showing of standing, too
Plaintiff’s failure to specify his standing for an alleged Fourth Amendment violation defeats his civil claim. Sanghvi v. County of San Bernardino, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 4335 (9th Cir. Feb. 17, 2022).* “Given the findings of fact at issue here, … Continue reading
FL4: Prosr’s argument def refused to give password to phone violated 4A
“The trial court erred in denying Appellant’s motion in limine and allowing the State to present evidence and argument referencing Appellant’s refusal to provide his cellphone PIN and his refusal to consent to a warrantless search of his entire cellphone. … Continue reading
CA11: Not clearly established warning required before use of deadly force
It was not well established that police need to warn armed people before shooting them. Here, the shooting victim was an innocent homeowner who had a gun on him around his own house investigating a prowler, and the police saw … Continue reading
D.S.D.: RS lacking: nervousness not enough, and remainder was minimal
USMJ’s report is rejected in part. On the reasonable suspicion finding: “Here, the government relies on several factors to establish reasonable suspicion. The court has found that some of these factors, such as the visibly pulsing heartbeat and rapid breathing, … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: Whether 14A or 4A applies to ptf’s excessive force claim on arrest before PC found by judicial officer, result the same
Plaintiff’s excessive force claim occurred after arrest but before a judicial determination of probable cause. “If so, Mr. Willis would not have been a pretrial detainee for purposes of Plaintiff’s excessive force claim. However, because the parties characterize him as … Continue reading
NM: Dismissal of § 1983 excessive force case was not collateral estoppel for a state tort claims act case
Dismissal of a § 1983 excessive force case in federal court was not collateral estoppel for a state case under the state tort claims act. Hernandez v. Parker, 2022 N.M. App. LEXIS 5 (Feb. 1, 2022). Extending this stop was … Continue reading
CA6: Where there was a threat in the house on the second floor, it wasn’t unreasonable for officers to go check it out
“We have held, however, that ‘[w]ithin a few seconds of reasonably perceiving a sufficient danger, officers may use deadly force even if in hindsight the facts show that the persons threatened could have escaped unharmed.’ … Though different decisions on … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: The state used Google satellite images to corroborate officer’s testimony of stop
The government used Google satellite images and distancing to corroborate the officer’s testimony defendant didn’t signal his turn in time. After the stop, the smell of marijuana was apparent. United States v. Miles, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14860 (S.D.Ind. Jan. … Continue reading
NJ: Race and being ¾ mile from a robbery not RS
Defendants were stopped in a car ¾ of a mile and driving away from the scene of a 7-11 robbery. All the officer knew was there were two black males involved. In their car, there were three black males. That … Continue reading