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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16)
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© 2003-20,
online since Feb. 24, 2003
WebPage Visits: real non-robot hits since 2010; approx. 25k posts since 2003~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
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State courts (and some USDC opinions)
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $Research Links:
Supreme Court:
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Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
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General (many free):
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Lexis.com $
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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“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"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!”
"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."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
Website design by Wally Waller, Little Rock
Category Archives: Standards of review
CO: After first SW for cell phone was suppressed for Franks violation, second was valid with independent source
Defendant was subjected to two search warrants for his cell phones in possession of the police. A motion to suppress the first search was granted because the officer recklessly included false information that deprived it of probable cause. The police … Continue reading
TN: Defense counsel not ineffective for recommending guilty plea where motion to suppress denied and case would have gone to trial on other counts even if granted
Defendant challenges on post-conviction his counsel being ineffective in recommending a guilty plea after the motion to suppress was denied. Even if it had been granted, defendant was going to trial on other counts, and he can’t show that defense … Continue reading
D.D.C.: No statute of limitations for equitable actions for return of property not forfeited
Plaintiff pro se and post-conviction filed a pleading for return of property. Some was forfeited, and it was treated as a motion to set aside the forfeitures. Some were not forfeited, and there is no statute of limitations for equitable … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Attacking only GFE when court found both PC and GFE states no 2255 claim
The district court before conviction held that the search warrant was based on probable cause and the good faith exception would apply. In his 2255, defendant argues that defense counsel was ineffective for not better arguing the good faith exception. … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: How one USDJ views R&Rs in a 4A case; also, using social worker entry as pretext wasn’t unreasonable
“It may be worth commenting that the deputies may have subjectively used the social worker visit to pursue their interest in the reported firearm and drug violations — to the extent possible — just as traffic violations are often used … Continue reading
CA1: Govt showed nexus to house that drug dealers keep money, books, customer lists, and product there
The district court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress because there was probable cause to issue the search warrant. It was likely that a drug dealer kept his money, books, and customer lists in a safe place like his residence, … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: [For the 10,000th time,] the standard of review of PC is whether there is a “substantial basis” for finding PC, not whether there actually is
“‘[T]he task of a reviewing court is not to conduct a de novo determination of probable cause, but only to determine whether there is substantial evidence in the record supporting the magistrate judge’s decision to issue the warrant.’ United States … Continue reading
IA: Std of review of PC is not is there PC, but is there a substantial basis for believing there was PC
“Because the Fourth Amendment values the practice of obtaining a warrant to reduce the perception of intrusive police conduct, we do not strictly scrutinize the sufficiency of the underlying affidavit. … Instead, we decide whether the issuing magistrate had a … Continue reading
CA8: SW for MJ in urine wasn’t stale by eight day wait to execute
The search warrant for defendant’s urine sample to prove he had marijuana in his system wasn’t stale after eight days. Staleness is determined by whether the probable cause for the warrant dissipates before execution. There was testimony in the record … Continue reading
D.D.C.: When serving SW in sex assault investigation where def was known to be a felon, a Glock speed loader in plain view permitted search for a gun
D.C. Metro police had a search warrant for evidence of a sexual assault. When they entered, they saw a Glock magazine speed loader. That caused them to search for a firearm because they knew defendant was a felon learning, that … Continue reading
WI: Use of a tracking dog in a burglary that led to def’s house was reasonable and in hot pursuit
Police received a 4 am burglary call, and an officer with a dog tracking smell and the officer tracking footprints in the dew on the ground led to defendant’s property. The officer knocked and defendant’s mother let the police in. … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Std of review of PC for a warrant is not de novo
The standard of review of probable cause for a search warrant is not de novo—it’s whether there is a substantial basis for believing that evidence would be found. Here, “Although some of the information lacked detail, the volume and corroboration … Continue reading
