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- D.N.M.: Impoundment of backpack not shown proper under police procedures
- E.D.Tenn.: No showing of nexus to cell phones in pharmacy fraud
- CNS: Maryland man argues arrest using cellphone tracking device violates the Fourth Amendment
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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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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)
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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) -
“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] -
“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) -
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: Subpoenas / Nat’l Security Letters
VA: Second frisk was still with RS
Defendant’s second frisk was valid, despite a prior frisk not finding anything. “We have no doubt that the situation here presented such circumstances, on the heels of a possible armed robbery with suspects on the scene and the whereabouts of … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: Private case subpoenas not 4A issue
A private party issuing subpoenas in a civil case is not subject to the Fourth Amendment. Rodney v. TransUnion LLC., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 211570 (C.D. Cal. Sep. 2, 2025). This Walmart store’s asset protection person was considered a reliable … Continue reading
AR: Deficient SW affidavit cured by additional testimony
The affidavit for warrant was deficient, but it was adequately supplemented by testimony from the officer about grooming that would have been on his cell phone. Also, the good faith exception applies. Vasquez v. State, 2025 Ark. 134 (Sep. 25, … Continue reading
The Intercept: Courts Block Meta From Sharing Anti-ICE Activists’ Instagram Account Info With Feds
The Intercept: Courts Block Meta From Sharing Anti-ICE Activists’ Instagram Account Info With Feds by Shawn Musgrave (“A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday temporarily blocked a federal administrative subpoena aimed at unmasking Instagram accounts that named and shamed … Continue reading
Natl. Imm. Law Center: Warrants & Subpoenas: What to Look Out for and How to Respond
Natl. Imm. Law Center: Warrants & Subpoenas: What to Look Out for and How to Respond, fact sheet (Jan. 2025)
E.D.Wis.: Heck bar has to be pled in first defensive pleading
The Heck bar is an affirmative defense that has to be pled by defendants under F.R.C.P. 8(c). Megna v. Musial, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127980 (E.D. Wis. July 7, 2025). Defendant’s driving justified his stop. State v. Craven, 2025 Wash. … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Civil demand for BAC test in Indian country did not violate HIPAA
The FBI’s civil demand from the BIA for BAC records from a hospital did not violate HIPAA. United States v. Cree Medicine, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110982 (D. Mont. June 11, 2025):
CA9: No warrant required for CI to record def
No warrant was required for the CI to record defendant, following White (1971). United States v. Sudbury, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 13921 (9th Cir. June 6, 2025). The state can’t be compelled to seek to unseal the CI’s testimony for … Continue reading
MO: Administrative subpoena to Planned Parenthood was not unreasonable
The AG’s civil investigative demand to Planned Parenthood wasn’t unreasonable as a subpoena. “To comply with the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness requirement, a CID, which is an administrative subpoena, must (1) comply with the statute authorizing it, (2) seek information that … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Subpoena for times connected to IP address is not for transactional information and thus is valid
A subpoena is sufficient for IP information that only showed when connected, but not where connected (transactional information). In re United States for Non Disclosure Ord. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2705B Relating to Grand Jury Subpoena, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: Suit over NYC DA’s subpoena for possession of a stolen antiquity is dismissed
The defendant here is Alvin Bragg, the District Attorney of New York County, NY (Manhattan). He’s sued in the Central District of California over his office’s investigation into antiquity art theft where plaintiff purchased a statue, the Bronze Male, for … Continue reading
GA: Shouting and arguing inside is not exigency
Yelling and arguing from inside a home is not exigent circumstances. As to a second entry, the defendant’s statements about an injury were tainted as fruit of the initial unlawful entry. Refusal to consent to re-entry did not constitute a … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: No standing to contest civil investigative demands to third parties over medical records
Defendant had no standing to contest civil investigative demands to third parties, even involving medical records of others. United States v. Hertel & Brown Physical & Aquatic Therapy, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6437 (W.D. Pa. Jan. 13, 2025):
W.D.Wash.: Hypothetical 4A violation from civil investigative demand doesn’t confer Art. III standing
Hypothetical future Fourth Amendment injury from a state AG’s civil investigative demand doesn’t confer Art. III standing. Obria Grp., Inc. v. Ferguson, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1166 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 3, 2025). “Here, a common-sense review of the warrant affidavit … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Texas Request to Examine Statute fails under Patel, but rev’d by CA5
Texas’s Request to Examine Statute (“RTE Statute”; Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §§ 12.151-12.156) violates Patel. “The issue before the court and, accordingly, this Report and Recommendation are not about whether the Attorney General has a right to request information from … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Subpoena to govt contractor wasn’t too burdensome
As narrowed by the parties, the subpoena to Office Depot as a government contractor wasn’t too burdensome. United States v. Office Depot, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 197661 (D.D.C. Oct. 31, 2024)*:
Bloomberg Law: Texas’ 100-Plus Year Investigatory Tool Ruled Unconstitutional
Bloomberg Law: Texas’ 100-Plus Year Investigatory Tool Ruled Unconstitutional by Ryan Autullo (“A federal magistrate judge has struck down a 100-plus year old Texas statute authorizing the state’s attorney general to investigate certain businesses and organizations for violating state laws. … Continue reading
N.D.Okla.: Pipe on console of MMJ card holder not PC for plain view
A pipe on the car console of a MMJ card holder was not “immediately apparent” it was incriminating for plain view. United States v. Vasquez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174528 (N.D. Okla. Sep. 25, 2024). Plaintiff filed his Fourth Amendment … Continue reading
CA1: GFE applies to alleged staleness of SW
Defendant operated a pill-making operation in his house for years without detection. He moved to a new place without suspicion for it. The warrant for the prior house was not sufficiently stale to still be valid under the good faith … Continue reading