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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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)
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Section 1983 Blog -
"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
CA9: Hotel room was def’s “premises” and the parole search was reasonable
A hotel room rented by defendant’s girlfriend where they checked in as a couple was defendant’s “premises.” There was probable cause to believe it was defendant’s premises and under his control because his clothes were inside, and the girlfriend said … Continue reading
NY4: Probation condition that def consent to searches reasonably related to his crime and rehabilitation
Defendant’s probation condition that he consent to searches is reasonably related to his crime and rehabilitation. People v. King, 2017 NY Slip Op 04618, 2017 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4686 (4th Dept. June 9, 2017).* “Giving due weight to each … Continue reading
DE: Positive probation drug screen 15 days earlier, with nothing more, wasn’t RS for a probation search of the house
Positive probation drug screen 15 days earlier, with nothing more, wasn’t reasonable suspicion for a probation search of the house. State v. Fax, 2017 Del. Super. LEXIS 270 (June 2, 2017). Geolocation information from a coconspirator’s cell phone was used … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: It’s not for LEO to second guess a probation search condition’s validity or application
If the probation search condition applies on its face, and even if the search is for general law enforcement purposes, it’s not for the searching officer to inquire into the details of whether there might be some argument behind the … Continue reading
LA2: UT blanket probation search condition applied to probationer transferred to LA
Defendant was on probation out of Utah and supervised in Louisiana. His PO received information that he might have child pornography on his cell phone. During a PO visit, he was told to get his cell phone and computer out … Continue reading
N.D.N.Y.: Def’s prior drug involvement justified a drug search condition on supervised release
Defendant’s prior convictions for drugs from age 17-22 justified a drug search condition on supervised release. United States v. Betsy-Jones, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75157 (N.D. N.Y. April 28, 2017), adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74113 (N.D. N.Y. May 16, … Continue reading
Cal.4th: Passenger’s parole status permitted search of entire passenger compartment
Defendant was in a car with a parolee. After a valid stop, the parolee gave a false name, and the officer eventually got the right name and parole status. A search of the whole car was permissible even though the … Continue reading
NC statute that probation search be for “purpose” of probation is a limitation on the search power
A 2009 amendment to the state probation search condition required that the search serve the purpose of the supervision, so it’s not carte blanche for a probation search. The trial court’s order refusing to suppress is reversed. State v. Powell, … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Affidavit for SW and other things showed def’s standing in two cell phones
The search warrant affidavit showed defendant’s standing in two cell phones that were seized. The phones were referred to as belonging to defendant, and she claimed them when asked about them but disclaimed ownership in others. Finally, she proffered that … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: Trailer on blocks with no means around to pull it not subject to automobile exception
An RV trailer elevated on a block with nothing to pull it around is not subject to the automobile exception. United States v. Maley, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69797 (D.Ariz. May 5, 2017). A detailed tip about defendant on supervised … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: 791 days of GPS tracking of a parolee suppressed
Back on December 29th was this post: E.D.N.Y.: 791 days of GPS tracking of a parolee to catch others in a DTO was [somehow] not unreasonable. On review, Judge Weinstein finds that intense tracking violated the Fourth Amendment and there … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Search incident included under the bed next to defendant
Search incident included a search under a bed near where the defendant was arrested, and cocaine was found there. The court rejects protective sweep under the bed as an alternative. United States v. Bohannon, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65446 (D. … Continue reading
IL: Arrest of driver would not make passengers think they were free to leave; continuation of stop was with RS
Passengers would not think they were free to leave based on the arrest and handcuffing of defendant driver. The continuation of the stop, however, was with reasonable suspicion because of furtive movements. People v. Veal, 2017 IL App (1st) 150500, … Continue reading
Cal.4th: Probation search for “property” does not include “electronic data”
The juvenile’s probation search condition for his “property” does not reasonably include electronic data. In re I.V., 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 392 (4th Dist. April 28, 2017):
D.Mont.: Possession of a camera phone was violation of release conditions and justified PO search
Defendant had a release condition to stay away from children, but he babysat two and he let them use his cell phone connected to his computer. This was reasonable suspicion for a search of the cell phone and computer for … Continue reading
CO: Parolee on ankle monitor had no REP in his GPS data that linked him to robberies and was turned over to feds
Defendant was on parole-like Colorado community supervision with a GPS ankle monitor. One of the POs, not his, was cross-assigned to a federal task force. When defendant was suspected of being involved in robberies, the federally assigned PO looked up … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Just being a driver of vehicle doesn’t give standing; two traffic tickets in past in vehicle not enough
Defendant at the suppression hearing showed no possessory interest in the vehicle he claimed not to own at the time of the stop and search. Two traffic tickets in the past driving the same vehicle wasn’t enough. United States v. … Continue reading
VA: PC for stop for reckless driving didn’t get stale in 3 hours
The officer saw defendant recklessly driving, but wasn’t able to stop him. Staleness for arrest for that did not dissipate within three hours before he saw defendant again. Hairston v. Commonwealth, 2017 Va. App. LEXIS 99 (April 11, 2017) (see … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Def’s probation search was done at a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner, as required by state statute
Defendant’s North Carolina probation search was conducted at a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner, as required by statute, and it was for probation purposes. It was not quite a nighttime search. United States v. Lynch, 2017 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
FL: Def abandoned gun by storing it in attic of friend’s house where friend said gun wasn’t allowed in house
Defendant abandoned his gun by putting it in his friend’s attic in a shoebox after he was told the gun was not welcome in the house. Heyne v. State, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 748 (April 6, 2017). The PO had reasonable … Continue reading