Archives
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Recent Posts
- CA2: No 4A requirement for SWs being issued with notice to target
- CA6: Denying ptf access to his own bathroom during a search of his house stated 4A claim
- W.D.Mo.: Not exactly following the inventory policy doesn’t make it unreasonable under 4A
- GA: No IAC for not challenging complete cell phone download before search
- DNYUZ: CBP Workers Allegedly Used Government Databases to Spy on Exes, Crushes, and Colleagues
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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)
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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: Probation / Parole search
CA6: While federal law requires RS for a supervised release search, it wasn’t error for district court here to permit suspicionless searches
District court did not plainly err in imposing a suspicionless search condition separate from federal law that normally requires reasonable suspicion. United States v. Sulik, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 10450 (6th Cir. Mar. 31, 2020). “Nothing in the record suggests … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Possession of an unauthorized smartphone was RS and justified its search
Possession of an unauthorized smartphone was a violation of defendant’s probation and provided reasonable suspicion for a search of the phone. Aside from the legitimate reasons for having a smartphone, “[c]onsidering that a smartphone is often used as an instrumentality … Continue reading
CA6: Trash pulls not unreasonable despite local ordinance that only trash collectors permitted in trash
Trash pulls by police are not unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, notwithstanding a local ordinance that limits trash collectors to rummaging in trash. United States v. Mathis, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 10275 (6th Cir. Mar. 30, 2020). Defendant’s probation search … Continue reading
SCOTUSBlog: Petitions of the week
SCOTUSBlog: Petitions of the week includes: Hamm v. Tennessee19-1059Issue: Whether police violate the Fourth Amendment when they conduct a suspicionless search of a probationer’s home.
CO: Cell phone SW is particular if it gives just the phone number and expected owner’s name
A cell phone search warrant is sufficiently particular by identifying merely the phone number and the expected owner of the phone. People v. Pettigrew, 2020 COA 46, 2020 Colo. App. LEXIS 656 (Mar. 26, 2020). Defense counsel didn’t fail to … Continue reading
M.D.Fla.: Seven week delay for SW for cell phone validly seized wasn’t unreasonable
A delay of seven weeks for seeking a search warrant for a cell phone already validly seized wasn’t unreasonable. Several cases approved long delays, and this is near the outer limit, but still valid. United States v. Butler, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
M.D.N.C.: Two SWs were issued, and second did not supersede the first
Two search warrants were issued May 28 & 29, 2019. They were both issued with probable cause, they weren’t stale, and the second did not supersede the first. No case supports this latter argument. United States v. Atkins, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
NC: State fails to show need for satellite based monitoring of sex offender who won’t be released from prison until 2032
The state fails to show the need for constant satellite based monitoring for defendant convicted sex offender who won’t even be released from prison until 2032. State v. Gordon, 2020 N.C. App. LEXIS 205 (Mar. 17, 2020):
CA2: Even assuming this supervised release search lacked RS, there were facts supporting it and the exclusionary rule will not be applied
Even if the supervised release search here was without reasonable suspicion, the purposes of the exclusionary rule aren’t served. “Even assuming [Officer] Dyckman acted unreasonably in failing to conduct further investigation before executing the search, this is not the kind … Continue reading
OH10: Lack of findings of fact and conclusions of law on grant of suppression motion requires remand to make them
The trial court’s grant of suppression is reversed and remanded because of its inadequate findings of fact and conclusions of law for appellate review. State v. Peeks, 2020-Ohio-889, 2020 Ohio App. LEXIS 812 (10th Dist. Mar. 10, 2020). Defendant officers … Continue reading
OH2: Nighttime SW approved essentially just because police wanted to search ASAP
The court sustains a nighttime search warrant based solely on the fact that there were some sales of drugs from the house without specifying the time, and that it was “urgent” that the raid happen now for drugs, potential weapons, … Continue reading
NC: 30 years of satellite based monitoring of this convicted sex offender was unreasonable
30 years of satellite based monitoring of this convicted sex offender was unreasonable under Grady v. North Carolina and subsequent state cases. State v. Griffin, 2020 N.C. App. LEXIS 139 (Feb. 18, 2020). The trial court credited the officer’s testimony … Continue reading
CA9: Unobjected to supervised release search condition was reasonable
Defendant’s supervised release unobjected to search condition is reviewed for plain error and found reasonable from his criminal history. United States v. Oseguera, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 4350 (9th Cir. Feb. 10, 2020).* Giving deference to the state court affidavit … Continue reading
MA: Probation search of cell phone photo app was reasonable; could be used in a subsequent prosecution
Defendant’s probation search of a photo app on his cell phone that revealed child pornography and led to a search warrant of his residence was reasonable. The product of all the searches was admissible against him in a subsequent criminal … Continue reading
CA4: 4A doesn’t require a particular statement of the crime under investigation if it otherwise adequately describes the place to be search or the person or thing to be seized
“More fundamentally, we think that the premise of Blakeney’s argument — that a search warrant always must specify the crime for which the executing officers may seek evidence – is mistaken. The Fourth Amendment ‘specifies only two matters that must … Continue reading
CA6: Probation search justified by two drug arrests and posting $125k bond with no job
Defendant’s probation search condition permitted the search here, and officers had reason: He was arrested twice for drug offenses and posted $125,000 in bond despite having no apparent source of income. United States v. Tucker, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 3264 … Continue reading
Cal.: Mid-trial objection to question based on lack of PC for search was untimely objection to the search
A mid-trial objection to evidence on the ground there was no probable cause for the police action in the search was untimely. It can only be brought during trial if the facts weren’t known until then, and that’s not what … Continue reading
M.D.La.: Merely being a CI doesn’t make the CI a “participant” in the crime for disclosure
Merely being a CI for the police doesn’t make the CI a participant in the crime to make his or her identity subject to disclosure. United States v. Westbrook, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10563 (M.D. La. Jan. 22, 2020). The … Continue reading
CT: No REP in jail letter to def’s mother with admission
Defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights weren’t violated by corrections officers copying a letter to his mother with an admission then turning it over to law enforcement officers. He had no privacy interest in his mail that society would recognize. The claim … Continue reading