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- N.D.Tex.: Room searches in center for sexually violent predators same as a prison cell search
- D.Ariz.: PC for forfeiture is similar to PC for a warrant
- Cal.2: Officers didn’t need to periodically reassess exigency
- DE: Second warrant after first general warrant was independent source for search
- CT: Exclusionary rule does not apply in animal welfare cases which are civil
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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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"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, 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: DNA
TX6: Seizing thermometer’s protective sleeve from hospital waste for DNA was reasonable
The officer getting the protective sleeve from a hospital thermometer to test for defendant’s DNA wasn’t unreasonable. Mundt v. State, 2026 Tex. App. LEXIS 2126 (Tex. App. – Texarkana Mar. 6, 2026) (unpublished). After an initial inspection of this vessel, … Continue reading
NY Co.: State showed PC for DNA test for firearm possession
Here, the state showed probable cause and reasonableness to seek DNA from defendant to compare it to alleged touch DNA found on the firearm he’s alleged to have possessed in threatening two ADAs. People v. Hightower, 2026 NY Slip Op … Continue reading
MI: Def not in custody during execution of DNA warrant where she chose to talk
In a 25-year-old cold case of a buried infant, officers got a warrant for defendant’s DNA. She argued she was in custody for purposes of her statement given at the time, but she wasn’t. The officers were clear on that. … Continue reading
TX1: Motion to suppress after officer testified at trial not timely
Defense counsel’s motion to suppress coming during trial at the end of the officer’s testimony wasn’t timely. Brown v. State, 2026 Tex. App. LEXIS 1014 (Tex. App. – Houston (1st Dist.) Feb. 3, 2026)* (unpublished). An automobile exception search can … Continue reading
SC: DNA taken on 2007 arrest didn’t need to be suppressed because he was acquitted back then
Defendant’s DNA was taken when he was charged in 2007 and later acquitted. The DNA sample should not be suppressed because it was lawfully taken at the time. State v. Harrington, 2026 S.C. App. LEXIS 7 (Jan. 21, 2026). Defendant’s … Continue reading
Rolling Stone: Trump’s DNA Dragnet: The Law That Turns Us All Into Suspects
Rolling Stone: Trump’s DNA Dragnet: The Law That Turns Us All Into Suspects by Alex Ashley (“A little-used federal law is being activated in ways that could turn immigration screening into the backbone of a far-reaching DNA surveillance system.”)
TN: 2009 DNA seizure that should have been purged and wasn’t could be relied on in GF and then another order issued
Defendant’s DNA was seized in 2009 and should have been purged, but it wasn’t. He’s later charged with another crime. A confirmatory test was run. The good faith exception applies to the DNA that wasn’t purged like it was supposed … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: ICE detention of asylum claimant was without PC and due process and it’s unrebutted
Petitioner is an Iranian national here under a claim of asylum. He was arrested and detained by ICE agents on the street. His Fourth Amendment and due process claims over his detention are unrebutted by the government and taken as … Continue reading
CA5: A-C privilege review of seized email doesn’t have to be perfect
In this bank fraud case, the attorney-client privilege review of defendant’s email was “imperfect” but not so bad that the indictment should be dismissed. It clearly doesn’t rise to the level of “outrageous.” Yes, the review could have been done … Continue reading
RawStory: ‘Horrible!’ Trump accused of using immigrants as guinea pigs for terrifying tech trial
RawStory: ‘Horrible!’ Trump accused of using immigrants as guinea pigs for terrifying tech trial by Matt Lasso:
Update: 23andMe sold privately
23andMe sold to private bidder. Exclusive | Anne Wojcicki Wins Bid to Buy 23andMe for $305 Million – WSJ
LAT: States sue to block the sale of genetic data collected by DNA testing company 23andMe
LAT: States sue to block the sale of genetic data collected by DNA testing company 23andMe by Caroline Petrow-Cohen (“Dozens of states have filed a joint lawsuit against the bankrupt DNA-testing company 23andMe to block the company’s sale of its … Continue reading
E.D.Okla.: Entry to look for shooting victim was reasonable
Officer’s entry to look for a potential shooting victim was reasonable on exigent circumstances. United States v. Bird, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112088 (E.D. Okla. May 7, 2025).* Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not challenging defendant’s taking DNA by warrant. … Continue reading
LATimes: ‘People should be worried’: 23andMe bankruptcy could expose customers’ genetic data
LATimes: ‘People should be worried’: 23andMe bankruptcy could expose customers’ genetic data by Caroline Petrow-Cohen and Stacy Perman (“Once a promising company briefly valued at $6 billion, 23andMe popularized at-home DNA test kits and spawned a cottage industry of ancestry … Continue reading
NYTimes: 23andMe Files for Bankruptcy Amid Concerns About Security of Customers’ Genetic Data
NYTimes: 23andMe Files for Bankruptcy Amid Concerns About Security of Customers’ Genetic Data by Yan Zhuang (“The genetic testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday after months of uncertainty over its business model and mounting concerns about the … Continue reading
CA11: Refusal to cooperate in taking DNA by SW permitted adverse inference at trial
“The record here demonstrates that the district court did not plainly err by allowing the jury to draw an adverse inference of guilt from Gonzalez’s refusal to provide his DNA even though his counsel was not present. When the government … Continue reading
IN: Handswabbing for evidence doesn’t require advice of rights under state constitution
Handswabbing didn’t require advice of Pirtle rights under Indiana Constitution. DNA swabs don’t. Owens v. State, 2024 Ind. App. LEXIS 316 (Nov. 20, 2024).* The false statements in the affidavit for warrant were neither reckless nor intentional nor even material. … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Def counsel’s failure to file a motion to suppress that might have been plausible isn’t IAC per se
“That a motion to suppress or an objection based on trial testimony regarding the aerial surveillance video might have been reasonable falls short of establishing deficient performance by counsel. United States v. Reyes, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134866, 2012 WL … 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