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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16)
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© 2003-19,
online since Feb. 24, 2003
WebPage Visits: real non-robot hits since 2010; approx. 25k posts since 2003~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
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State courts (and some USDC opinions)
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $Research Links:
Supreme Court:
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Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
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General (many free):
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Lexis.com $
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F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
Section 1983 Blog"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me“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"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!”
"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."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
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Category Archives: Probation / Parole search
WY: Def’s contradictions of travel compared to car rental agreement and lies about criminal history was RS
Defendant was stopped for following too close in a rental car. It was reasonable for the trooper to suspect defendant rented the car to transport drugs because there were obvious contradictions between the car rental agreement and his travel plans, … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Length of def’s participation in DTO undermines his staleness argument
There was probable cause defendant was a major player in a DTO, and that his participation went on for months. This, he concedes, undermines his staleness argument. United States v. Williams, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 211403 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 6, … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Parole search waiver applies to CSLI information
CSLI can be obtained from a parolee’s cell phone without a search warrant. “However, the Court’s own research has found that every circuit court faced with the same question has sided with the Government and found that a warrant is … Continue reading
ID: Unlawful warrantless search isn’t salvageable by inevitable discovery by later learning of probation search waiver
A unreasonable warrantless search is not cured by inevitable discovery because the officers later find out defendant was on probation and had a search waiver on file. State v. Maxim, 2019 Ida. LEXIS 216 (Dec. 4, 2019):
E.D.Pa.: Def could be transported to precinct for lineup on RS alone
Defendant was handcuffed as a part of his stop for officer safety and to secure the scene. They could also put him in a police car handcuffed. Finally, transporting him to the precinct for a lineup wasn’t an unreasonable seizure … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: “[T]he mere fact that the agents requested that Defendant sign a consent form does not suggest that he was in custody” for Miranda
“[T]he mere fact that the agents requested that Defendant sign a consent form does not suggest that he was in custody” for Miranda purposes. United States v. Cox, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206681 (N.D. Ind. Oct. 10, 2019), adopted, 2019 … Continue reading
FL follows Mitchell on blood draws from the unconscious
The Florida Supreme Court granted a certified question of public importance on whether a search warrant was required to draw blood from an unconscious motorist in the hospital. In the meantime, SCOTUS decided Mitchell v. Wisconsin. This court applies Mitchell … Continue reading
OH11: Failure to provide an inventory after a search is ministerial and not a fundamental right
“Even presuming no inventory was completed or provided to Thompson, however, this did not result in prejudice or provide any grounds for relief. It has been held that ‘the preparation and return of an inventory is ministerial’ and ‘does not … Continue reading
CA9: Three-month-old information about where probationer lived wasn’t stale for probation search
Probation officers could rely on a three-month-old list that showed defendant’s brother lived there and he was on probation. The list was not stale because there was no suggestion the brother’s tenancy was transitory. Defendant’s claim the probation search as … Continue reading
WI: Uncorroborated informant hearsay was strong enough to credit for probation search on RS
Wisconsin permits warrantless probation and parole searches on reasonable suspicion by any law enforcement officer. Officers had it here based on uncorroborated informant hearsay. The record also supports the trial court’s conclusion that the officer knew of the search condition … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Michigan v. Long search of car on RS for a weapon called “protective sweep”
The officers had reasonable suspicion to believe there was a weapon in the car justifying a “protective sweep” of the car under Michigan v. Long. United States v. Alexander, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 197653 (D. Kan. Nov. 14, 2019). Defendant … Continue reading
D.Utah: Parole search doesn’t extend to car parolee was a passenger in
The parole search of car defendant was a passenger in was invalid because it wasn’t his. United States v. Tafuna, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 194829 (D.Utah Oct. 1, 2019):
