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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: Knock and talk
MI: Predawn knock-and-talk was a trespass under Jardines; even Girl Scouts know better
Predawn (4 am in one case, 5:30 am in other) knock-and-talk was a trespass and violated social norms under Jardines. Implied license to enter the curtilage is time sensitive. People v. Frederick, 2017 Mich. LEXIS 1113 (June 1, 2017):
WaPo: ‘The Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: The Fourth Amendment and “no trespassing” signs
WaPo: ‘The Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: The Fourth Amendment and “no trespassing” signs by Orin Kerr: In light of the uncertainty, I thought I would point out the latest decision on the Fourth Amendment implications of ‘no trespassing’ signs: State v. … Continue reading
TN: Police passing “no trespassing” signs on rural land doesn’t prevent a knock-and-talk
Citing numerous cases, the Tennessee Supreme Court holds that officers passing “no trespassing” signs has no talismanic authority to make a knock-and-talk unreasonable. The overwhelming weight of authority so holds. Police came to defendant’s front door, knocked, and he opened … Continue reading
IN: Even if prolonged knocking can be unreasonable in a knock-and-talk, here it was justified by a chemical smell at the house
Even if prolonged knocking during a knock-and-talk, recognized as potentially unreasonable in United States v. Jerez, 108 F.3d 684 (7th Cir. 1997), was unreasonable, here it was reasonable because it was based on the officers encountering a chemical on the … Continue reading
SC: Entry into backyard for knock-and-talk was really a search violating curtilage
Officers entered defendant’s backyard, the curtilage, to conduct what they called a “knock-and-talk,” but it was really a search by their own admission, and they violated the Fourth Amendment. The trial court was correct in finding the backyard curtilage and … Continue reading
NC: Surrounding house for a knock-and-talk didn’t make the knock-and-talk unreasonable
Defendant had a running generator connected to his house and mold and condensation on the windows. A CI had said that defendant had a grow operation. Officers came to the house and confirmed the generator and windows from the front. … Continue reading
KY: There is no jurisdictional requirement for knock-and-talk
There is no such thing as a jurisdictional requirement that a law enforcement officer outside of his or her jurisdiction can’t come to one’s door to do a knock-and-talk. The officers did nothing more than any other citizen could do … Continue reading
OH3: Burning MJ on lot next to def, with his admission to firefighters it was his MJ and fire, justified knock-and-talk
The fire department was called to an open burn, and the police came along, too. There was the apparent smell of burning marijuana. The officers went to the nearest structure next door for a knock-and-talk about the burning marijuana. The … Continue reading
CA10: Def would lose 4A issue in any event, so no IAC
2255 petitioner argued that state appellate counsel was ineffective for not challenging trial counsel’s ineffectiveness in failing to argue a knock-and-talk. The knock-and-talk would be valid in any event, so there can’t be any IAC. Moore v. McCollum, 2016 U.S. … Continue reading
FL1: Assault of officer on porch attempting to talk to def leading to police entry and more resisting not subject to exclusion
Police came to defendant’s trailer to talk to him about a domestic battery allegation. He refused to come out, and argued at the door with the police. Finally, he reached out and slapped an officer’s hand. That led to them … Continue reading
MI dismisses grant of discretionary review on application of Jardines to a knock-and-talk
Michigan granted discretionary review to determine the application of Jardines to a knock-and-talk, but dismissed it after considering the briefs. Three justices dissented from declining to decide the case. People v. Radandt, 2016 Mich. LEXIS 1591 (July 29, 2016)*:
NC: Driving at normal speed out of a parking lot wasn’t “flight” for RS purposes
Driving out of a parking lot at a normal speed was not flight for reasonable suspicion purposes. “In the present case, the officers observed activity which made them suspect that Defendant’s actions in leaving the apartment complex might constitute flight, … Continue reading
FL1: Knock-and-talk on motel room door didn’t need justification, but here it was because robbery getaway car was outside
Officers could conduct a knock-and-talk at a motel room door without reasonable suspicion based on the fact the getaway car from an armed robbery was in the parking lot. When the person opening the door was recognized as the robber … Continue reading
CA6: Officers doing a knock-and-talk for meth were confronted with an emergency justifying entry
Officers responded to a noise complaint and ran into a guy outside who said he was there to buy methamphetamine. They went to the door and smelled meth being manufactured. Nobody answered. They went around to the back to see … Continue reading
RI: Description of CP sufficient for PC; magistrate doesn’t have to view it
An issuing magistrate doesn’t have to see the child pornography to find probable cause it was on the subject computer; a description will do. IP information tied to the child pornography was probable cause for the residence and computers in … Continue reading
CA9: 4 am knock-and-talk violated implied license of Jardines
Officers came to defendant’s house at 4 am for a knock-and-talk to arrest him. They heard a crashing noise in the backyard and found defendant there. The subsequent search of defendant’s house was presumptively unreasonable and without any lawful justification. … Continue reading
CA10: “No trespassing” sign doesn’t deny implied license of a police officer to approach a house to ask questions
Even a “no trespassing” sign doesn’t deny implied license of a police officer to approach a house to ask questions of the occupant. United States v. Carloss, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4547 (10th Cir. March 11, 2016):
NC: Jardines does not prohibit knock-and-talks
Where the notice of appeal says the defendant is appealing from the denial of the motion to suppress and not the judgment, the notice of appeal was deficient. Nevertheless, the case was taken by writ of certiorari. The police here … Continue reading