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Recent Posts
- CA8: Def’s 20 prior arrests helped show voluntariness of consent
- TX1: No standing to challenge seizure of ketamine off co-def, but PC was lacking for his own arrest
- 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
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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)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (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: Seizure
N.D.W.Va.: Factual mistakes in the affidavit for SW didn’t undermine the factual showing; the GFE also applies
There were factual mistakes in the affidavit for search warrant, but it doesn’t undermine the probable cause showing. In any event, the mistakes are in good faith and the good faith exception applies. United States v. Naum, 2019 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
PA: “The Fourth Amendment does not have a time limit; it protects individuals from unreasonable seizures, no matter how brief.”
“The Fourth Amendment does not have a time limit; it protects individuals from unreasonable seizures, no matter how brief.” The brief detention here wasn’t based on reasonable suspicion and implicated the Fourth Amendment. Commonwealth v. Adams, 2019 Pa. LEXIS 1734 … Continue reading
WA: It’s defendant’s burden to show a seizure occurred
“An appellant making an unconstitutional seizure claim has the burden of proving that a seizure occurred. … [¶] Here, Yang consented to Koster’s entry. Throughout their time in the house, Lucas and Koster told Ho what they were doing. They … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: Rule 41(g) doesn’t enable return of property the govt doesn’t have
Property not in the hands of the federal government cannot be ordered returned under Rule 41(g). Administratively forfeited case can’t be returned; there was a remedy. United States v. Morris, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45071 (S.D.Ga. Mar. 19, 2019). Defendant’s … Continue reading
Reason: Volokh Conspiracy: New Cert Petition: Does the Fourth Amendment Allow “Information Seeking” Stops of Suspects?
Reason: Volokh Conspiracy: New Cert Petition: Does the Fourth Amendment Allow “Information Seeking” Stops of Suspects? by Orin Kerr:
S.D.N.Y.: A prison cell search doesn’t need justification
“‘[P]rison officials are presumed to do their best to evaluate and monitor objectively the security needs of the institution and the inmates in their custody, and then to determine whether and when such concerns necessitate a search of a prison … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: Driving below “normal speed of traffic” is undefined and couldn’t form basis for stop
There is no statutory definition of ‘normal speed of traffic.’ And, Officer Anderson did not testify that the SUV was driving less than the ‘normal speed of traffic’ as required by the statute. Rather, he stated that the SUV was … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Destruction of surveillance cameras before search not a “seizure” or due process violation
The government destroyed defendant’s surveillance cameras as a part of the search just before it started. He asserts a Fourth Amendment and Fifth Amendment due process claim as a result. The court finds no authority that disabling the cameras was … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Community caretaking function doesn’t apply well to seizures; seizure and frisk suppressed
Officers responded to a drive-by shooting allegedly picked up by ScatterShot. Officers grabbed defendant’s arm ostensibly to see if he’d been shot, and it was readily apparent that he had not been, and he denied it. The community caretaking function … Continue reading
CA2: Remand required for determination for reason for delay in getting computer SW
Defendant was found passed out in a car on a rural road with the car in gear and the engine running. A tablet was on the seat. Searching the car for information about him, an image of child pornography was … Continue reading
CA9: Seizure of a vehicle for 30 days for no DL without alternatives was unreasonable
Plaintiffs get summary judgment on their damages claim against the County and officers for impounding vehicles if the driver never had a valid DL rather than letting others take the vehicle. It was an unreasonable seizure. The state has a … Continue reading
CNS: Suit Over Search on Domestic Delta Flight Advances
CNS: Suit Over Search on Domestic Delta Flight Advances by Josh Russell:
KS: Def was already stopped when police approached; he got out of car and locked it and was arrested; no possessory interest involved when a drug dog sniffed his locked parked car
Defendant was stopped on a grocery store parking lot, got out of the car, and locked it. He was searched incident to arrest. A little later a drug dog came and stiffed the car. Defendant was deprived of no possessory … Continue reading
Orin Kerr: “At what point is a driver asleep in an electric car that is on autopilot ‘seized’ by the police slowing down and stopping the car by getting in front of it?”
CA10: A notice to appear in court is not a seizure for false arrest purposes
Giving plaintiff a notice to appear in court is not a seizure for false arrest purposes. Leon v. Summit County, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 33349 (10th Cir. Nov. 28, 2018). The information from the CI was detailed, down to a … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Parking across def’s driveway wasn’t his seizure when he was hiding under a trailer
The officer parking across defendant’s driveway wasn’t his seizure. Defendant wasn’t seized until he came out from under a trailer. When he was seized, it was with reasonable suspicion. United States v. Shelton, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 197713 (D. N.M. … Continue reading
CA6: Police cannot summarily kill dogs in houses they search
From 1919-2014, it violated Michigan law to have an unlicensed dog over six months old, and state law and city ordinance permitted officials to kill them. In 2014, that changed. Plaintiffs became squatters in an abandoned house in Detroit, and … Continue reading
TN: Def wasn’t seized when officer parked next to him to talk, but he was when he tried to leave and was told to stop; all reasonable
Stopping next to defendant’s car to talk to him wasn’t a seizure. When defendant moved and attempted to leave, the officer told him to stop, and that was a seizure. The encounter was based on an anonymous caller’s information, and … Continue reading