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Recent Posts
- Bloomberg Law: Texas’ 100-Plus Year Investigatory Tool Ruled Unconstitutional
- D.Minn.: State law permits POs to conduct “unannounced visits” and that includes unannounced warrantless searches
- E.D.Va.: Three images from ALPR in 30 days wasn’t enough for a Carpenter violation
- CA5: The 4A doesn’t limit the number of officers that show up for an administrative search
- D.Idaho: The exclusionary rule does not apply in pretrial release revocations
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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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 -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (27,400+ on WordPress as of 7/23/24) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and links -
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
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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) -
“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!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Surveillance technology
WaPo: Police seldom disclose use of facial recognition despite false arrests
WaPo: Police seldom disclose use of facial recognition despite false arrests By Douglas MacMillan, David Ovalle & Aaron Schaffer (“Hundreds of Americans have been arrested after being connected to a crime by facial recognition software, a Washington Post investigation has … Continue reading
Harvard Law Review: Tech Companies’ Terms of Service Agreements Could Bring New Vitality to the Fourth Amendment
Harvard Law Review: Tech Companies’ Terms of Service Agreements Could Bring New Vitality to the Fourth Amendment by Brent Skorup [that is, if they choose to do anything about it]:
EFF: You Really Do Have Some Expectation of Privacy in Public
EFF: You Really Do Have Some Expectation of Privacy in Public by Matthew Guariglia & Lisa Femia:
The Well News: The Silent Erosion of Privacy: Why We Should Care About Financial Surveillance
The Well News: The Silent Erosion of Privacy: Why We Should Care About Financial Surveillance by John Yelland (“In today’s digital age, financial transactions are meticulously tracked by both private companies and government entities. This pervasive financial surveillance often goes … Continue reading
CA6: Ptfs showed standing for 4A claim over CTRs for cyptocurrency
Plaintiffs showed ripeness and standing for their Fourth Amendment claim over the requirement of cryptocurrency currency transaction reports under 26 U.S.C. § 6050I. Remanded, but taking no position on the claim. Carmen v. Yellen, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20033 (6th … Continue reading
Legal Aid Society: Backyard Privacy in the Age of Drones
EFF: Backyard Privacy in the Age of Drones by Hannah Zhao (“This article was originally published by The Legal Aid Society’s Decrypting a Defense Newsletter on August 5, 2024 and is reprinted here with permission.”):
Texas Observer: Texas State Police Gear Up for Massive Expansion of Surveillance Tech
Texas Observer: Texas State Police Gear Up for Massive Expansion of Surveillance Tech by Francesca D’Annunzio (“In June, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) signed an acquisition plan for a 5-year, nearly $5.3 million contract for a controversial surveillance … Continue reading
Reason: Limit Government’s Use of Surveillance Technology Before It’s Too Late
Reason: Limit Government’s Use of Surveillance Technology Before It’s Too Late by Steven Greenhut (“In that relatively short time, humanity has become accustomed to a level of technological intrusion that was previously unfathomable. Most of us have mixed feelings. We’ve … Continue reading
Reason: The Feds Are Skirting the Fourth Amendment by Buying Data
Reason: The Feds Are Skirting the Fourth Amendment by Buying Data by Joe Lancaster (“The government needs a warrant to spy on you. So agencies are paying tech companies to do it instead.”)
Kansas Reflector: Spyware turned this Kansas high school into a ‘red zone’ of dystopian surveillance
Kansas High School uses AI to analyze students’ “homework assignment, email, photo, and chat on your school-supplied device is being monitored by artificial intelligence for indicators of drug and alcohol use, anti-social behavior, and suicidal inclinations.” Kansas Reflector: Spyware turned … Continue reading
NYTimes: Gun-Detecting Technology Will Soon Appear in Subway System
NYTimes: Gun-Detecting Technology Will Soon Appear in Subway System by Ana Ley & Hurubie Meko (“A set of weapon-screening devices will be deployed at various stations over the course of a month.” “New York City officials will begin testing gun-detecting … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: No standing in ALPR info of car def didn’t drive
Defendant’s motion to suppress automated license plate reader (ALPR) data on the family car that he didn’t drive is denied for lack of standing. Also, the holder of the information was a third-party contractor. United States v. Butler, 2024 U.S. … Continue reading
Reason: Sacramento Cops Shared License Plate Data With Anti-Abortion States
Reason: Sacramento Cops Shared License Plate Data With Anti-Abortion States by Joe Lancaster (“The California Highway Patrol operates automated license plate recognition systems (ALPRs), cameras that ‘automatically capture an image of a vehicle and the vehicle’s license plate, transform the … Continue reading
techdirt: Lawsuit Filed Challenging Constitutionality Of Vast Network Of Illinois License Plate Readers
techdirt: Lawsuit Filed Challenging Constitutionality Of Vast Network Of Illinois License Plate Readers by Tim Cushing (“This lawsuit might be a long shot, but it’s not completely a foregone conclusion at this point. The state of Illinois has tougher privacy … Continue reading
Va. Lawyers Weekly: Automatic license plate reader data suppressed
Trial court order: Va. Lawyers Weekly: Automatic license plate reader data suppressed by Nick Hurston (“A trial court found that Norfolk’s newly installed automatic license plate reader, or ALPR, camera system constituted a Fourth Amendment search and granted a defendant’s … Continue reading
NYT: Is Your Driving Being Secretly Scored?
NY Times: Is Your Driving Being Secretly Scored? by Kashmir Hill (“The insurance industry, hungry for insights into how people drive, has turned to automakers and smartphone apps like Life360.”) Almost a cloud based black box for your car.
MSN: Emergence of Police Drones: Surveillance, Safety, and the Specter of Privacy Concerns
MSN: Emergence of Police Drones: Surveillance, Safety, and the Specter of Privacy Concerns by Ethan Brown (“A groundbreaking investigation, based on more than 22 million of flight coordinates, has revealed the expansive scope of the United States’ first full-fledged police … Continue reading
D.Utah: License plate readers can’t be compared to CSLI
Automatic license plate readers showing points where a vehicle was located at various times can’t be compared to CSLI. The officers also had reasonable suspicion during this stop. It also did not violate state law. United States v. Salcido-Gonzalez, 2024 … Continue reading
Popular Science: Law enforcement collected over 1.5 million people’s DNA since 2020
Popular Science: Law enforcement collected over 1.5 million people’s DNA since 2020 by Andrew Paul (‘The government’s DNA collection program represents a massive expansion of genetic surveillance.’).
WaPo: These cities bar facial recognition tech. Police still found ways to access it.
WaPo: These cities bar facial recognition tech. Police still found ways to access it. by Douglas MacMillan (“Citing concerns about accuracy and racial bias, the cities banned the technology. So some police officers sought help from other law enforcement agencies.”)