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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,
citations, and links -
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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) -
“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: February 2015
C.D.Cal.: CSLI doesn’t yet require a SW; if it now did, Davis GFE would apply
Obtaining Cell site location information doesn’t yet require a search warrant on probable cause under ECPA or the Fourth Amendment in the Ninth Circuit or in any district court in the circuit. Even if all those courts are wrong, the … Continue reading
D.Utah: Owner of the truck doesn’t always have standing in the trailer being pulled
Defendant had no standing in a stolen trailer even though he owned the truck pulling it. Similar is United States v. Abreu, 935 F.2d 1130, 1132 (10th Cir. 1991). United States v. Hayes, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22860 (D.Utah February … Continue reading
Ever overlooked a case or statute just because there’s too many?
United States v. Secy., Fla. Dept. of Corr., 14-10086 (11th Cir. February 27, 2015): There is a vast amount of federal law. So much that no one can hope to keep it all in mind, much less master the mass … Continue reading
D.V.I.: No reasonable expectation of privacy in a cell phone in a jail cell
A person in jail has no reasonable expectation of privacy in a cell phone found hidden in the cell, prison contraband, and a warrantless search of the cell phone is proper. United States v. Boyce, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23129 … Continue reading
CO: Juvie probation wouldn’t be deterred by suppressing DNA taken in violation of statute
Taking a DNA swab from a juvenile on probation violated the state statute on juvenile probation, but the court declines to suppress the evidence because probation officers cannot be deterred from committing such statutory violations. “Juvenile probation officers performing a … Continue reading
IN: CI was uncorroborated and his information old; no PC or GFE
The CI’s statement here was uncorroborated and 3-4 months old. Thus, the search warrant lacked probable cause and it was so lacking in probable cause, that the good faith exception cannot apply. Cartwright v. State, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 107 … Continue reading
CBS: Rand Paul: GOP needs to care about more than gun rights [Stated another way: The Bill of Rights isn’t multiple choice]
CBS: Rand Paul: GOP needs to care about more than gun rights by Stephanie Condon: The Republican Party needs to prove it values rights like freedom of speech and the right to a speedy trial as much as it values … Continue reading
MA: Police brought to a working chop shop by a LoJack alert was exigent circumstance for warrantless entry
A Honda owner’s car was stolen, and it was equipped with LoJack. LoJack directed the police to defendant’s garage, and the police, without a warrant, announced their presence. Inside they could hear power tools and tools dropping when they yelled … Continue reading
Health Data Mgmt: Utah Questions Police Access to Controlled Substances Database
Health Data Mgmt: Utah Questions Police Access to Controlled Substances Database by Joseph Goedert: The Utah State Senate on a 27-0 vote has passed legislation to require law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing the state’s controlled substance … Continue reading
Does the TSA run warrants on all passengers? Maybe
Defendant’s consent to search a box when he was in custody in a holding cell in Seattle airport’s jail was shown to be voluntary. He said “Go ahead. It’s just helicopter parts.” Heroin and meth were found in a radio … Continue reading
Daily Record (Md.): Can police take your DNA without consent or a warrant?
Daily Record (Md.): Can police take your DNA without consent or a warrant? by Jason Whong: The U.S. Supreme Court is set to meet privately on Friday to discuss whether Americans have a constitutional right against surreptitious collection of their … Continue reading
MT: Officers entering on a civil standby for a roommate moving out made a valid plain view of MJ grow
Officers were called for a civil standby to assist a woman from moving out of a house where she feared trouble from her roommates. It was objectively reasonable to believe her based on her conversation and because she had a … Continue reading
NJ: Smell of burnt MJ coming from house isn’t sufficient exigency for warrantless entry
Police received multiple calls, some anonymous, about shots fired, and they were ultimately directed to defendant’s house which they approached from the rear. One caller said a gun was kept in a doghouse, and there were pit bulls in the … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Co-owner of a business couldn’t consent to opening safe officers knew was owned solely by other co-owner
Codefendant consented to a search of shared business premises. His general consent to search the basement did not extend to breaking open a safe that both said was defendant’s because he had no joint control over the safe. United States … Continue reading
D.Mont.: “Onlookers” reporting hearing “strangulation sounds” during an argument in an apartment was exigency
“Onlookers” reported hearing “strangulation sounds” during an argument in an apartment, and that was exigency. Defendant was an overnight guest who had standing under Olson. United States v. Harris, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182312 (D.Mont. February 24, 2015) (note incorrect … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: If police reasonably believe someone not answering, knock and talk can go from front door to another door; finding overdose victim justified entry
Where the police attempt a knock and talk and it’s apparent to them that somebody is home but not coming to the door, it is not unreasonable to go to another door to attempt an answer. Thus, the curtilage may … Continue reading
Washington Times: What if the government fears freedom?
Washington Times: What if the government fears freedom? by Andrew P. Napolitano Violating the Fourth Amendment is not the president’s prerogative What if the current massive spying on Americans began with an innocent secret executive order signed by President Reagan … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Officer on scene noted SW facially deficient for lack of particularity and had another issued that cured the first
Defendant here argues that the difference between a black or a dark gray Dodge Charger having been involved in a bank robbery was significant. It’s not, especially when the vehicle flees as the officer attempted to stop it shortly after … Continue reading
Daily Report: Full Eleventh Circuit Hears Cellphone Privacy Case
Daily Report: Full Eleventh Circuit Hears Cellphone Privacy Case by Alyson Palmer: Backed by groups concerned about government intrusion on privacy, a criminal defense attorney on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to put the brakes on the warrantless acquisition … Continue reading