Archives
-
Recent Posts
- CA9: Compelled use of fingerprint to open a cell phone didn’t violate 5A
- Lawfare: How Google’s Location History Program Could Upend Digital Surveillance Law
- CA6 disagrees with CA7 on de minimis injuries under § 1983 force cases
- MO: No duty of care owed by police to fleeing motorist
- D.P.R.: Indictment for possession of switches to convert handguns to machine guns justified vehicle search when defendant was stopped
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
-
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 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
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 -
"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)
Website design by Wally Waller, Little Rock 
Category Archives: Cell site simulators
S.D.N.Y.: Warrantless use of stingray device by DEA was unreasonable search
The warrantless use of a cell site simulator to capture information about defendant’s cell phone was a violation of the Fourth Amendment and suppressed. “Thus, even though the DEA believed that the use of the cell-site simulator would reveal the … Continue reading
New American: Illinois Lawmakers Unanimously Pass Ban on Unwarranted Stingray Surveillance
New American: Illinois Lawmakers Unanimously Pass Ban on Unwarranted Stingray Surveillance by Joe Wolverton:
Oklahoma Watch: Okla. Authorities Have or Use Controversial Cellphone Tracker
Oklahoma Watch: Okla. Authorities Have or Use Controversial Cellphone Tracker by Clifton Adcock: At least two Oklahoma law enforcement agencies possess or have used a controversial device, shrouded in secrecy, to track and collect information from cellphones, an Oklahoma Watch … Continue reading
techdirt: EFF, ACLU And Public Records Laws Team Up To Expose Hidden Stingray Use By The Milwaukee Police Department
techdirt: EFF, ACLU And Public Records Laws Team Up To Expose Hidden Stingray Use By The Milwaukee Police Department by Tim Cushing:
eff.org: EFF and ACLU Expose Government’s Secret Stingray Use in Wisconsin Case
eff.org: EFF and ACLU Expose Government’s Secret Stingray Use in Wisconsin Case: Thanks to EFF and the ACLU, the government has finally admitted it secretly used a Stingray to locate a defendant in a Wisconsin criminal case, United States v. … Continue reading
WBAL: Baltimore police sued over cellphone tracking
WBAL: Baltimore police sued over cellphone tracking by David Collins Lawsuit: Police secretly used powerful phone surveillance tool
The Guardian: Stingray ruling could challenge hundreds of Baltimore convictions
The Guardian: Stingray ruling could challenge hundreds of Baltimore convictions by Baynard Woods: Maryland could appeal to supreme court to reverse ruling that found police use of device to track cellphones without warrant in violation of fourth amendment. The Maryland … Continue reading
MD: Stringray/Hailstorm cell phone tracking device a search; nondisclosure agreement unconstitutional
The use of a Stingray/Hailstorm device to track a cell phone is a search under the Fourth Amendment. The Nondisclosure Agreement is essentially unconstitutional because of the state’s argument they don’t have to disclose what they were doing. The court … Continue reading
Memphis Commercial Appeal: Strickland says he can’t discuss city’s use of cell phone eavesdropping device
Memphis Commercial Appeal: Strickland says he can’t discuss city’s use of cell phone eavesdropping device by Ryan Poe: Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland confirmed Monday that the city is using cell phone eavesdropping technology with court approval, but said he couldn’t … Continue reading
Boston Globe: Public kept in the dark about BPD’s use of covert cell trackers
Boston Globe: Public kept in the dark about BPD’s use of covert cell trackers by Shawn Musgrave: The Boston Police Department is keeping the public largely in the dark about how it uses covert cellphone trackers — devices that have … Continue reading
USA Today: U.S. Marshals secretly tracked 6,000 cellphones
USA Today: U.S. Marshals secretly tracked 6,000 cellphones by Brad Heath: Federal marshals have secretly used powerful cellphone surveillance tools to hunt nearly 6,000 suspects throughout the United States, according to newly-disclosed records in which the agency inadvertently identified itself … Continue reading
WaPo: Constitutionality of StingRay use by D.C. police is challenged
WaPo: Constitutionality of StingRay use by D.C. police is challenged by Spencer S. Hsu: Public defenders and civil liberties groups are challenging the constitutionality of the first-known use by local police in the nation’s capital of covert cellphone-tracking technology without … Continue reading
WTTW: Lawmakers Want to Limit Police Use of Stingray Cellphone Trackers
WTTW: Lawmakers Want to Limit Police Use of Stingray Cellphone Trackers by Paris Schutz: Law enforcement agencies on Thursday met with Illinois lawmakers about legislation that would limit the use of new technology that tracks cell phone use.
Salon: The NYPD’s “Big Brother” problem is getting even worse
Salon: The NYPD’s “Big Brother” problem is getting even worse by Daniel Denvir: America’s largest police force has long behaved like an intelligence agency. That hasn’t changed in the Snowden era.
NYTimes: New York Police Dept. Has Used Cellphone Tracking Devices Since 2008, Civil Liberties Group Says
NYTimes: New York Police Dept. Has Used Cellphone Tracking Devices Since 2008, Civil Liberties Group Says by Joseph Goldstein: Covert cellphone tracking devices, which have proliferated in law enforcement agencies across the nation, have been used by the New York … Continue reading
TakePart: A Lawsuit Could Rein In the Government’s Use of Secret Surveillance Tools
TakePart: A Lawsuit Could Rein In the Government’s Use of Secret Surveillance Tools by Rebecca McCray: A controversial tool used by law enforcement to track the location of suspects via their cell phones could take a major hit next week … Continue reading
ars technica: Warrantless stingray case finally arrives before federal appellate judges
ars technica: Warrantless stingray case finally arrives before federal appellate judges by Cyrus Farivar: “Cell-site simulators raise especially serious questions under the Fourth Amendment.”
techdirt: ACLU, EFF Join Fight To Suppress Evidence Illegally Obtained With A Cell Tower Spoofer
techdirt: ACLU, EFF Join Fight To Suppress Evidence Illegally Obtained With A Cell Tower Spoofer by Tim Cushing: Baltimore law enforcement officers love their cell tower spoofers. They have deployed them over 4,300 times since 2007, in most cases without … Continue reading
SC: EFF, ACLU amicus brief advocates warrants, probable cause for cell-simulator use
SC: EFF, ACLU amicus brief advocates warrants, probable cause for cell-simulator use by Teri Robinson: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Maryland to file an amicus brief Tuesday … Continue reading
The Intercept: Stingrays–A Secret Catalogue of Government Gear for Spying on Your Cellphone
The Intercept: Stingrays-A Secret Catalogue of Government Gear for Spying on Your Cellphone by Jeremy Scahill & Margot Williams: THE INTERCEPT HAS OBTAINED a secret, internal U.S. government catalogue of dozens of cellphone surveillance devices used by the military and … Continue reading