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- E.D.N.Y.: To get CSLI, there must be some showing the phone was involved in the crime
- W.D.Ky.: Illegal stop that was suppressed not excluded in § 1983 case
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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 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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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Monthly Archives: July 2014
NYTimes: A Stronger Bill to Limit Surveillance (Editorial)
NYTimes: A Stronger Bill to Limit Surveillance (Editorial): The Senate should pass a bill that will finally put an end to the indiscriminate bulk collection of Americans’ phone records.
WI: There is a reasonable expectation of privacy in CSLI, but it is subject to exigent circumstances in a proper case
There is a reasonable expectation of privacy in CSLI, but it is subject to exigent circumstances in a proper case. State v. Subdiaz-Osorio, 2014 WI 87, 2014 Wisc. LEXIS 502 (July 24, 2014): [*P5] This case presents two issues for … Continue reading
WI: Prior statutory authority is not required to get CSLI and use of a stringray as long as there was a warrant issued on PC
Prior statutory authority is not required to get cell site location data and use of a stringray as long as there was a warrant issued on probable cause. State v. Tate, 2014 WI 89, 2014 Wisc. LEXIS 504 (July 24, … Continue reading
New Law Review Article: Grounding Drones: Big Brother’s Tool Box Needs Regulation Not Elimination
Grounding Drones: Big Brother’s Tool Box Needs Regulation Not Elimination, Melanie Reid, 20 Rich. J.L. & Tech. 9 (2014). Abstract:
MO Voters to decide electronic privacy matter Aug. 5
MO Voters to decide electronic privacy matter Aug. 5 by Amanda Lubinski: Warrensburg – Voters statewide will decide Aug. 5 whether to add electronic data and communications to the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment property protections. Missouri Constitutional Amendment No. 9, … Continue reading
CBS News: More police officers being outfitted with body cameras
CBS News: More police officers being outfitted with body cameras by Teri Okita Alleged police brutality caught on camera in New York and Los Angeles this month has prompted a public outcry for better officer training. But in some cases, … Continue reading
IN: Refuses to find any reasonable expectation of privacy in telephone records under state constitution
Defendant didn’t pursue an interlocutory appeal of his suppression motion on telephone records being seized in violation of the state constitution. Therefore, he waived it by objecting at trial. Nevertheless, the court finds that he would lose on the state … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Merely holding a camera bag getting into a car doesn’t give standing when the car was later stopped without some ownership interest
Defendant was seen holding a blue camera bag as he entered a car that was later stopped. Holding the bag then doesn’t give standing because he later did not assert an ownership interest in it. United States v. Valle-Irizarry, 2014 … Continue reading
NYT series on legalization of marijuana, still a Fourth Amendment issue
This is not a drug advocacy blog, but so many cases involve dubious arrests for possession of marijuana and rousting people of color that this is relevant here. The New York Times started yesterday a six part series on legalization, … Continue reading
MA: The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit taking a buccal swab for DNA to exclude a fraternal twin in an investigation
The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit taking a buccal swab for DNA to exclude a fraternal twin in an investigation. Commonwealth v. Kostka, 86 Mass. App. Ct. 69 (July 25, 2014):
E.D.Pa.: Four months not too stale for SW when $71k is still missing
There was probable cause and nexus for a search involving $71k in unaccounted for money, even though the theft was four months earlier. United States v. Little, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100795 (E.D. Pa. July 23, 2014). Officers entered defendant’s … Continue reading
FL3: Trial court erred in not believing a police officer not impeached or contradicted at all
The testimony of the police officer in this case was neither impeached, contradicted, or implausible. It was error for the trial court to reject it and grant the motion to suppress. State v. Ojeda, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 11197 (Fla. … Continue reading
WI: Knocking on the window of a car to get the driver to roll the window down is not a seizure
Knocking on the window of a car to get the driver to roll the window down is not a seizure. The smell of alcohol was then lawfully discovered. County of Grant v. Vogt, 2014 WI 76, 2014 Wisc. LEXIS 490 … Continue reading
WaPo: Wiretaps can’t keep pace with new technology
WaPo: Wiretaps can’t keep pace with new technology by Ellen Nakashima: Federal law enforcement and intelligence authorities say they are increasingly struggling to conduct court-ordered wiretaps on suspects because of a surge in chat services, instant messaging and other online … Continue reading
MA: Baggies of drugs supported DUI detention since no alcohol signs
Defendant was stopped for possible impaired driving, but he didn’t show signs of alcohol intoxication. Instead, officers saw baggies that one would obviously associate with drugs and that supported the officer’s later actions. The motion to suppress should not have … Continue reading
Journal Sentinel: State Supreme Court backs police in cellphone tracking
Journal Sentinel: State Supreme Court backs police in cellphone tracking by Bruce Vielmetti: The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday continued its recent string of Fourth Amendment decisions, this time in two divided rulings upholding warrantless searches to track suspects through … Continue reading
Motherboard: Do the FBI’s Drones Invade Your Privacy? Sorry, That’s Private
Motherboard: Do the FBI’s Drones Invade Your Privacy? Sorry, That’s Private by Shawn Musgrave: Federal law requires the FBI to assess its own surveillance technologies for potential privacy and civil liberties snags. While these technology assessments are typically prepared for … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Reasonable suspicion supported border search of 5 cell phones
Officers had reasonable suspicion that defendant was involved in alien smuggling when she crossed the border at San Ysidro. When she was sent for secondary inspection, the five cell phones she had could be searched under Cotterman. United States v. … Continue reading
FL2: Old information doesn’t corroborate a CI; no GFE
Search warrant affidavit failed to show probable cause and nexus. The attempted corroboration of the CI was with old information that proved really nothing. The good faith exception does not apply because no reasonable officer could rely on this search … Continue reading