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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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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)
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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: April 2015
TN: An RV parked off the property but connected by an electrical cord to the house was subject to search under a warrant for the house
To search vehicles under a search warrant for real property, the vehicles must belong to a person named in the warrant to identify the place or things to be searched. Vehicles belonging to visitors are not subject to search under … Continue reading
PA: Fourth Amendment applies to mental commitment proceedings
The Fourth Amendment applies in mental commitment proceedings, and there must be probable cause for the seizure of the person the state seeks to commit. The fact that the criminal rules don’t apply to these proceedings does not mean that … Continue reading
HuffPo: D.C. Mayor Doesn’t Want You To See Police Body Camera Footage
HuffPo: D.C. Mayor Doesn’t Want You To See Police Body Camera Footage by Jason Cherkis: After this month’s police killing of Walter Scott in South Carolina, Americans were treated to another lesson in how police departments can spin such incidents. … Continue reading
NPR: Seattle Police Body Camera Program Highlights Unexpected Issues
NPR: Seattle Police Body Camera Program Highlights Unexpected Issues: NPR’s Audie Cornish talks with the Seattle Police Department’s Chief Operating Officer Mike Wagers about the challenges that bodycams and dashcams present to the department. In addition to figuring out how … Continue reading
EFF: Police Must Respect the Right of Citizens to Record Them
EFF: Police Must Respect the Right of Citizens to Record Them by Sophia Cope: “I’m asking all the citizens of North Charleston to continue taping.” That is what Councilwoman Dorothy Williams said in response to the shooting death of Walter … Continue reading
CA9: Injunction against racially profiling Hispanics affirmed as modified
The injunction against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for profiling Hispanics is affirmed as modified. Ortega v. Arpaio, 13-16285 (9th Cir. April 15, 2015). The summary from the court follows:
Courthouse News Service: Ferguson Police Face Scrutiny of 8th Circuit
Courthouse News Service: Ferguson Police Face Scrutiny of 8th Circuit by Joe Harris: ST. LOUIS (CN) – A black man who claims he was charged with destruction of police property for bleeding on Ferguson police officers’ uniforms during a brutal … Continue reading
LA2: Removing back of cell phone to get IMSI for SW application didn’t violate any REP
Defendant’s cell phone was lawfully seized at the time of his arrest. Two days later, the back of the phone was removed to get the IMSI number (serial number) to get a search warrant. The contents of the phone were … Continue reading
CA3: Use of a police baton on legs to subdue struggling suspect was reasonable; SI of fleeing suspect reasonable and based on fact
Defendant was pulled over for possible speeding in a 25 mph zone, and he fled the car, tugging at his pants as he was running, strongly suggesting a gun in his pocket or waistband. One officer tackled him and had … Continue reading
CA11: The beating of ptf to “subdue” him after flight from officer was reasonable
Defendant fled from an officer reaching into his truck to stop him from leaving. Ultimately he wrecked his truck. Despite his desire to surrender, “he noticed a small retention pond and — for reasons he asserts are unknown even to … Continue reading
Forbes: Appeals Court Overturns Jury’s $250,000 Award In Fatal Drug Raid: Why?
Forbes: Appeals Court Overturns Jury’s $250,000 Award In Fatal Drug Raid: Why? by George Leef: Many court cases cause you to wonder if the Constitution isn’t a dead letter, but the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Kane v. Lewis in March … Continue reading
OH9: Male driver’s consent to search car does not extend to female passenger’s purse; no apparent authority
The officer believed that the occupants of the car were having sex in exchange for money, but there was no probable cause or exigent circumstances, so the automobile exception did not apply. The male driver granted consent to search the … Continue reading
Slate: Ignorance of the Law [is a complete defense, if you’re a cop]
Slate: Ignorance of the Law [is a complete defense, if you’re a cop] by Cristian Farias: So why did Slager pull over Scott? If what he said, as captured on the dashcam account, is to be believed, Slager made a … Continue reading
WaPo: TSA employees accused in scanner scam to ‘grope’ male passengers
WaPo: TSA employees accused in scanner scam to ‘grope’ male passengers by Lindsey Bever: Two Transportation Security Administration screeners have been fired following accusations that they manipulated the security system at Denver International Airport so that one of them, a … Continue reading
WaPo: Cop accused of brutally torturing black suspects costs Chicago $5.5 million
WaPo: Cop accused of brutally torturing black suspects costs Chicago $5.5 million by Michael E. Miller: Whenever Chicago Police commander Jon Burge needed a confession, he would walk into the interrogation room and set down a little black box, his … Continue reading
NJLJ: NJ Court Mulls Easing Rules for Warrantless Auto Searches
NJLJ: NJ Court Mulls Easing Rules for Warrantless Auto Searches by Michael Booth: The New Jersey Supreme Court on April 14 heard arguments over whether it should scrap its six-year-old ruling that governs the standards police must follow when conducting … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Reasonable to infer that robbers usually keep weapons and proceeds at home
It was a reasonable inference that a suspected robber would keep the weapons used and the proceeds of the robbery in his house. In any event, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Morgan, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48758 … Continue reading
DE: Nervousness, 3 cell phones, past drug conviction, old alias not used not RS beyond a mere patdown; extension of stop unreasonable
The stop was for speeding, 48/25. Defendant’s extreme nervousness and criminal history for drugs and weapons and an old alias justified his patdown for weapons. Defendant was previously asked for consent to search the car and declined. The extension of … Continue reading
Yahoo News: Video captured 2014 Taser shooting involving SC officer Michael Slager
Yahoo News: Video captured 2014 Taser shooting involving SC officer Michael Slager by Jason Sickles Lawsuit alleges suspect wasn’t a threat when he was shot in the back.