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Recent Posts
- D.Alaska: Def’s half hour detention was without RS
- CA9: When the PC for SW dissipates, the search must stop; no GFE
- C.D.Cal.: SW for all software in gambling case was overbroad and no GFE
- E.D.Mich.: State environmental inspector who entered property to look at unlicensed seawall gets QI
- S.D.Fla.: SW for def’s house included his tent outside
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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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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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)
ACLU on privacy
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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)
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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: Administrative search
D.Alaska: Admin. inspections of intrastate goldmines are legal under Mine Safety and Health Act
The Mine Safety and Health Administration sought an inspection of the respondent goldmine based on safety complaints it had received. The Fourth Amendment does not require an administrative warrant for an inspection. “Regulatory inspections pursuant to the Mine Act are … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Police entry into a fire damaged home after fire was out and it was “all clear” violated 4A
There was a kitchen fire in defendant’s home, and firefighters told the police that there were unsecured handguns in the house. A police aide entered the house without a warrant and took them. The government argues the house was abandoned … Continue reading
D.Idaho: Parole search condition justified extending the stop
There was reasonable suspicion for continuing the stop, then probable cause. “Even absent probable cause, the search of Mr. Watson’s car was permissible as a search pursuant to a parole condition.” That alone justified extending the stop. United States v. … Continue reading
CA11: Pretext for a criminal search can be an issue in administrative searches
Pretext for a criminal search can be an issue in administrative searches. “Accordingly, the district court erred in failing to recognize the existence of a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the February 2015 administrative search was focused … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: Administrative SDT to Starbucks is reasonable in scope
An administrative subpoena duces tecum to Starbucks is enforced. It is reasonable in scope. Su v. Starbucks Corp., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179355 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 4, 2023):
DC: Facebook can’t assert 1A or 4A privacy of posts under SCA
Facebook and the District of Columbia are litigating a subpoena from the D.C. A.G. over alleged Covid misinformation. There is no expectation of privacy in what is posted on Facebook. “May” divulge in the Store Communications Act is an excuse … Continue reading
CA9: Mixed motive for admin search doesn’t make it unreasonable
“The presence of an impermissible motive does not, by itself, establish that the administrative search was pretextual, Orozco, 858 F.3d at 1213, and here, the record shows the presence of a valid motive: the city inspector obtained the administrative search … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Admin search power doesn’t give govt power to search for ulterior motive
Plaintiff operates 20 pawnshops in NYC. The NYPD conducted records searches without subpoena or warrant, and, after a two-week trial, plaintiff prevailed with a $1m verdict. The fact a business has to maintain records doesn’t mean there is no reasonable … Continue reading
D.D.C.: SEC admin subpoena for law firm cyberattack was narrowed to only affected clients
Covington & Burling was the target of a cyberattack, and the SEC investigated. It wanted the names of all affected clients, but C&B resisted, seeking narrower disclosure. The law firm agreed that only certain affected clients should be disclosed, and … Continue reading
NY Cortlandt Co.: Requirement of business records searches to take low income housing vouchers violates 4A
Acceptance of section 8 low income housing vouchers violates the Fourth Amendment because the landlord has to permit searches of business records to participate. Rental property is not a closely regulated industry, and 1981’s Sokolov v. Freeport controls. “Thus, by … Continue reading
CA11: Inmate email has same 1A protection snail mail does
Prison email to family members is protected by the First Amendment. “Just as the Fourth Amendment protects against searches by technology unknown in the 18th century, see Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 34-38 (2001), the First Amendment protects … Continue reading
NY: Requirement of electronic logging devices of hours trucks are driven is reasonable under NY Const.
Electronic logging devices required under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration adopted in New York survive a facial challenge. “We hold that the warrantless inspections authorized by the regulations fall within the administrative search exception to the warrant requirement and … Continue reading
ID: Statutory admission of evidence in administrative proceeding is not a separation of powers issue
Admission or exclusion of evidence in an administrative proceeding over a driver’s license is not governed by the rules of evidence, but it does recognize constitutional limitations. That is not a separation of powers issue because it is within the … Continue reading
OH3: Invalid admin SW was saved by GFE
An administrative search warrant issued under the state criminal procedure law was invalid because of limits on who could request and serve a warrant (i.e., law enforcement officers and prosecutors). However, the good faith exception applies to administrative warrants, too. … Continue reading
Cal.4: Without specific argument, court won’t look to SW and affidavit to make it for the appellant
Without specific argument, the court of appeals will not scour the record and the search warrant affidavit to make a party’s argument for him. Billauer v. Escobar-Eck, 2023 Cal. App. LEXIS 144 (4th Dist. Feb. 28, 2023) (anti-SLAPP case; not … Continue reading
CA6: Being a drug dealer is not per se nexus to one’s home; more required
Defendant was a drug dealer, but the affidavit for warrant did nothing to show a reason to believe (nexus) that drugs would be found at his house. No case in this circuit supports nexus on these facts. Moreover, the information … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: PC for admin. warrant became stale before it was sought
This administrative search warrant under OSHA became stale by the government’s delay in seeking it and litigation delays. Also, USMJs have jurisdiction to issue administrative inspection warrants. F.R.C.P. 72 objections do not apply to administrative warrants because they frustrate enforcement … Continue reading
MI: Automobile repair business is pervasively regulated
The trial court erred in suppressing the search of defendant’s automobile repair business which was a pervasively regulated business. The search was during the work week during regular hours and was for evidence of compliance with the Motor Vehicle Service … Continue reading