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- WaPo: Americans have turned against police cameras that track license plates, new survey shows
- W.D.Tex.: What is the duty of the neutral and detached magistrate?
- D.Me.: Yes, more investigation could have been done, but there’s still PC on what there was
- CA3: Brady doesn’t apply to SW materials
- E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
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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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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)
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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)
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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. 
Monthly Archives: July 2014
MN: DWI BAC test is “reasonable” under Skinner and satisfies a legitimate state interest under McNeeley
Minnesota finds no “unconstitutional conditions” in DWI BAC test. It is also “reasonable” under Skinner and satisfies a legitimate state interest. Stevens v. Comm’r of Pub. Safety, 2014 Minn. App. LEXIS 69 (July 14, 2014):
GA: Officer’s ignoring dispatch that DL and paperwork were fine unreasonably extended stop
Defendant was stopped, acted somewhat nervous, and the officer called in the license check, which was complete in 2½ minutes. He ignored dispatch calling him back to prolong the stop, and that made the stop unreasonable because, since defendant’s paperwork … Continue reading
eff.org: EFF, ACLU Join Idaho Mom’s Legal Challenge to NSA Surveillance
eff.org: EFF, ACLU Join Idaho Mom’s Legal Challenge to NSA Surveillance: Court of Appeals Agrees to Expedite Case Over Telephone Records Collection Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American … Continue reading
FoxNews: First pregnant woman arrested under new drug law in Tenn.
FoxNews: First pregnant woman arrested under new drug law in Tenn. (Video)
NC: Lifetime satellite monitoring of convicted sex offender not unreasonable
Life time satellite surveillance of a convicted sex offender was reasonably related to a valid governmental objective, and it doesn’t violate Jones (involving investigation) or substantive due process. State v. Williams, 2014 N.C. App. LEXIS 744 (July 15, 2014). The … Continue reading
CA11: Tasering armed man out of a tree where he broke his back entitled to QI
Plaintiff was drunk in a tree with a gun after an altercation at a party. The police came and he refused to some down. He was Tasered twice, the second time falling headfirst eight feet and becoming a paraplegic. The … Continue reading
N.D.Tex.: Pre-Riley search incident of cell phone saved by Davis GFE
Pre-Riley search incident of cell phone was valid in the Fifth Circuit under the Davis good faith exception. The defendant’s trial concluded eight days before Riley was decided, and he raised the issue. United States v. Spears, 2014 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
WaPo: The curious grammar of police shootings
WaPo: The curious grammar of police shootings by Radley Balko: You’re probably familiar with the weaselly way politicians tend to apologize when they’ve been caught red-handed. The most famous example is the use of the line, mistakes were made. Use … Continue reading
Ars Technica: Obama administration says the world’s servers are ours
Ars Technica: Obama administration says the world’s servers are ours by David Kravets: In essence, President Barack Obama’s administration claims that any company with operations in the United States must comply with valid warrants for data, even if the content … Continue reading
ID: Curtilage is different when the home is on property open for business
Where the defendant lives on the property where he conducts his business, the curtilage of home is lesser because the property has been opened for business. Here, defendant lived on the property of his junkyard. State v. Hiebert, 2014 Ida. … Continue reading
CA6: After remedial orders have been entered, a warrantless entry to abate the nuisance is reasonable
After remedial orders to abate a nuisance have been entered, a warrantless entry to abate the nuisance is reasonable. Embassy Realty Invs. v. City of Cleveland, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 13256, 2014 FED App. 0506N (6th Cir. July 10, 2014):
CT: Apparent authority to consent still as valid as actual authority
It is settled that consent from a person with apparent authority to consent is as valid as from one with actual authority. Connecticut declines to depart from the general rule. State v. Buie, 2014 Conn. LEXIS 241 (July 22, 2014) … Continue reading
New Law Review Article: When Enough is Enough: Location Tracking, Mosaic Theory, and Machine Learning
When Enough is Enough: Location Tracking, Mosaic Theory, and Machine Learning, Steven M. Bellovin, Renee M. Hutchins, Tony Jebara, Sebastian Zimmeck, 8 NYU J.L. & Liberty 556 (2014). Abstract:
VT: Pre-conviction DNA testing of arrestees after arraignment violates the search provision of state constitution
In a comprehensive opinion, the Vermont Supreme Court held Friday that pre-conviction DNA testing of arrestees after arraignment violates the search provision of the Vermont Constitution. It failed every point of analysis. State v. Medina, 2014 VT 69, 2014 Vt. … Continue reading
VI: Alleged “plain view” of drugs inadequate without a showing that it was “immediately apparent” drugs were there
Defendant had an accident and was being detained because he appeared under the influence. His vehicle was searched, and a plastic bag inside a plastic bag was seen. The prosecution having produced no evidence that the officer had reason to … Continue reading
MA: Arrest on outstanding warrants doesn’t justify a search incident
Arrest on outstanding warrants for drugs and violation of a protective order does not give officers the authority to conduct a search incident. Commonwealth v. White, 469 Mass. 96, 12 N.E.3d 348 (2014). Pro se plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claims were … Continue reading
WA: Where justified frisk produced a small box that couldn’t have contained a weapon, opening box unreasonable
The frisk of defendant was justified because he’d lied about having a gun on him once before. When the frisk produced a small box that could not have possibly contained a weapon, the search of the box was unjustified. State … Continue reading
MA: Cruz on smell of burnt MJ after decrim applies to smell of unburnt MJ, too
Because of decriminalization of one oz or less of marijuana in Massachusetts, the smell of unburnt marijuana alone is also not probable cause for search of a car. Commonwealth v. Overmyer, 469 Mass. 16, 11 N.E.3d 1054 (2014): In Commonwealth … Continue reading