Archives
-
Recent Posts
- KS: 13 days pole camera surveillance violated no REP
- E.D.Va.: WaPo reporter’s SW was overbroad and 1A protected
- CAAF: GFE applies to cell phone’s geolocation data because of substantial basis for the search authorization
- CA9: When a digital computer search reveals a CP hash value, officer doesn’t have to see image to have PC
- I’m back
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
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 -
"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: Seizure
E.D.Wash.: Connecting seized cell phone to internet not a search
Connecting already seized cell phone to the internet was not shown to be a search (citing no law). United States v. Murray, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136292 (E.D. Wash. July 2, 2020). 2255 claim that defense counsel was ineffective for … Continue reading
NM: Stop for mere curiosity to run name was unreasonable stop under Strieff
Stopping defendant for mere curiosity to get his name and then run warrants was an unreasonable stop. When a warrant came up, it wasn’t attenuated under Strieff. “Here, Officer Hernandez testified that it was his practice when working the night … Continue reading
FL1: FDLE’s failure to remove DNA after acquittal in prior case wasn’t a separate 4A violation nor was it subject to the exclusionary rule
FDLE’s failure to remove defendant’s DNA from the state CODIS database after his acquittal in a prior case wasn’t a Fourth Amendment violation nor subject to the exclusionary rule to keep it from being used in this case. The evidence … Continue reading
OH9: Def’s observed association with wanted fugitive permitted his seizure at time of fugitive’s arrest, too.
Defendant was in a car wash and the USM fugitive task force was tailing a person in another car at the car wash. That person came over to defendant’s car and spoke to him. When the person being surveilled started … Continue reading
CA11: Detaining an innocent person in handcuffs for two hours at scene of SW doesn’t state a claim
Officers executing a search warrant detained an innocent person in handcuffs for two hours, and that doesn’t state a claim. Also, just being at the warrant execution meeting before the officers went to the scene doesn’t make all those officers … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Lack of officer reports of facts for PC to arrest goes only to their credibility, but they still were
There was ample probable cause for defendants’ arrest and stopping their car to do it despite the lack of reports. That goes to credibility, and the court finds it wanting. United States v. Davis, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105973 (D. … Continue reading
D.C.: Four day delay in getting SW for car and then searching it was unreasonable and interfered with def’s possessory interests
A four day delay between the seizure of defendant’s car and obtaining a search warrant for it unreasonably infringed on defendant’s possessory interest in the car. The exclusionary rule should be applied here because the delay was all the actions … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: Florida’s stay-at-home order didn’t violate the Bill of Rights or the 14A
Florida’s stay-at-home order didn’t violate the Bill of Rights or the Fourteenth Amendment. Henry v. Desantis, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86396 (S.D. Fla. May 14, 2020)*:
VA: Fear of suicide attempt objectively justified warrantless entry as facts developed
Officers had an objectively reasonable basis for an entry and sweep under the emergency aid exception. Defendant was reportedly suicidal, wasn’t communicating at first, and then strange sounds were coming from where he was. “Based on these troubling circumstances, the … Continue reading
CA1: Drunk underage partiers puking outside and going back in justified a community caretaking entry to see if anyone was in distress
Drunk underage partiers puking outside and going back in justified a community caretaking entry to see if anyone was in distress. Castagna v. Jean, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 11357 (1st Cir. Apr. 10, 2020). The use of an administrative warrant … Continue reading
CA4: Search incident of backpack of handcuffed def still reasonable
Despite his being handcuffed, a search incident of defendant’s backpack was reasonable because he could still try to access it. (First holding was abandonment for disavowing the backpack). United States v. Ferebee, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 12940 (4th Cir. Apr. … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Pill bottle in bedroom is not subject to plain view because incriminating nature not immediately apparent
A pill bottle on top of a dresser wasn’t subject to plain view because its incriminating nature wasn’t immediately apparent. United States v. Crawford, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74440 (E.D. Tenn. Apr. 6, 2020), adopted, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73477 … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: IAC shown for failure to move to suppress arrest in own home
Defendant satisfied his burden of showing ineffective assistance of counsel for defense counsel’s failure to file a motion to suppress that the entry into the house violated the Fourth Amendment and this tainted defendant’s consent. There is no strategic reason … Continue reading
CA6: Social workers’ in-school interviews of children violated 4A, but law not clearly established
Social workers’ in-school interviews of children of a parent who tested positive for drugs violated the Fourth Amendment, but they get qualified immunity because no case holds what they did was clearly established. Schulkers v. Kammer, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
IA: Detention “a few blocks” from the place of the search is too far under Summers
“Law enforcement officers executing a search warrant are permitted to detain the occupants or those in the immediate vicinity of the premises while a proper search is conducted. See Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692, 701-04, 101 S. Ct. 2587, … Continue reading
AL: Officer was lawfully in position for plain view of def’s computer screen
The trial court erred in suppressing the search here because the officer who did it was a law enforcement officer under state law able to do so. On the merits, the officer was in position to make a plain view … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Motions to quash denied in hearing on Microsoft’s relationship to NCMEC under Ackerman
Defendant gets a hearing on Microsoft’s relationship to NCMEC under Ackerman. The issue in this opinion deals with motions to quash testimony from two of three Microsoft employees. United States v. Rosenschein, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38319 (D.N.M. Mar. 5, … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: The clear potential for violence in a volatile domestic disturbance was a continuing exigency
The clear potential for violence in a volatile domestic disturbance was exigency. “As is evident from the video, the exigency did not terminate due to the passage of time or as a result of [Off.] Sosenko’s attempts to manage the … Continue reading
OH3: Handcuffing detainee for safety when officers outnumbered 4-2 was reasonable
Defendant’s vehicle stop was by an officer outside his jurisdiction, but others with jurisdiction immediately showed up. Handcuffing defendant when the officers were outnumbered 4-2 was reasonable during the stop. State v. Davis, 2020-Ohio-619, 2020 Ohio App. LEXIS 570 (3d … Continue reading