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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: April 2015
NYTimes: David Brooks: The Lost Language of Privacy
NYTimes: David Brooks: The Lost Language of Privacy: So, yes, on balance, cop-cams are a good idea. But, as a journalist, I can tell you that when I put a notebook or a camera between me and my subjects, I … Continue reading
Seattle Times Opinion: How to protect privacy in the digital age: a constitutional amendment
Seattle Times Opinion: How to protect privacy in the digital age: a constitutional amendment by Alex Alben: WE live under surveillance. In our homes. In our offices. In our public spaces. With the widespread deployment of GPS devices, digital networks … Continue reading
MA: Where an anticipatory warrant goes awry because the condition precedent fails, it can still be executed with “equivalent compliance”
Where an anticipatory warrant goes awry because the condition precedent fails, it can still be executed with “equivalent compliance”: “The Commonwealth bears the burden of proving that the conditions that actually gave rise to the search were as or more … Continue reading
KS: Where the parole search rules changed and defendant didn’t know, they couldn’t revoke on the rule change
Defendant was a parolee, and his conditions changed with a broader search condition that he agree in writing that he’s aware. The paperwork, however, hadn’t been signed before this search occurred, and that broader condition thus could not be applied … Continue reading
Police Technical: iOS8 Mobile Operating System Encryption Issues
Police Technical: iOS8 Mobile Operating System Encryption Issues (Whitepaper download) When an iOS 8 device is locked – a new encryption feature will not allow even Apple technicians to access the device. This whitepaper covers how to access a locked … Continue reading
D.R.I.: It was reasonable to believe defendant in house entered on arrest warrant when his car had been there and his cell phone ping put him there
Police had reason to believe defendant was in the apartment they entered with an arrest warrant for a Hobbs Act home invasion robbery: “The Court finds that the police reasonably believed prior to entry that Mr. Stewart resided at the … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Def’s supervised release condition did not amount to consent to a search of his computer; he could refuse under risk of revo
The terms of defendant’s supervised release for his child pornography conviction provide that he is subject to a search on reasonable suspicion, but he can refuse and risk revocation if it is not well taken. The condition the government relies … Continue reading
IA: Failure to cite state constitution to trial court was a waiver
A state wildlife officer approached defendant at a boat ramp during ice fishing season. No lights; car not blocked or pulled over. It was not a “stop.” The officer approached only to see if defendant had a fishing license, and … Continue reading
W.D.Fla. & D.Md.: Nexus is established by a reasonable inference the object sought will be found
Nexus was shown for a search of defendant’s house for counterfeit money. The police had reports from CIs having bought counterfeit money from him at 10¢ on the dollar, and his house was surveilled, resulting in seeing him carrying a … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Only two hours of warrantless GPS monitoring doesn’t offend Jones
Two hours of GPS monitoring didn’t implicate Jones’s reasonable expectation of privacy standard because it wasn’t long term. Defendant didn’t own the vehicle with the GPS device on it, but he was an authorized driver, and that gives him standing. … Continue reading
D.Kan.: PC alone doesn’t get the police to inevitable discovery: “To accept probable cause alone is to probably cause the (inevitable discovery) exception to swallow the (warrant requirement) rule.”
“Whatever view one has of the Fourth Amendment, its exceptional graces surely must be preserved from too casual invocation.” Here, the officers had probable cause, but no arrest or search warrant, when they entered a motel room looking for defendant … Continue reading
Serpico: Politico Magazine: When Cops Cry Wolf
Politico Magazine: When Cops Cry Wolf by Frank Serpico: Police have been setting up suspects with false testimony for decades. Is anyone going to believe them now when they tell the truth? I call it “testi-lying.” It has been a … Continue reading
WaPo: Editorial: The promise of body cameras
WaPo: Editorial: The promise of body cameras: LAW ENFORCEMENT agencies around the country, spurred by the fatal shooting of an unarmed man running from a police officer in South Carolina, are looking more closely at having officers on patrol wear … Continue reading
Grits for Breakfast: AT&T: Historical cell-phone location data provides ‘detailed and intimate portrayal of the targeted person’s daily habits and work and leisure routines’
Grits for Breakfast: AT&T: Historical cell-phone location data provides ‘detailed and intimate portrayal of the targeted person’s daily habits and work and leisure routines’: At a hearing Wednesday evening on HB 2263 by Rep. Bryan Hughes requiring warrants for the … Continue reading
Buffalo News: As technology advances, courts will need to guard against unwarranted intrusions (opinion)
Buffalo News: As technology advances, courts will need to guard against unwarranted intrusions (opinion): Technology is the great new frontier in the law. Several cases have come before the Supreme Court lately in which the justices found that uncontrolled use … Continue reading
WaPo: Are you running for president? Please answer these questions about the criminal justice system
WaPo: Are you running for president? Please answer these questions about the criminal justice system by Radley Balko: The recent announcement from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that he’ll be running for president and an expected similar announcement from former senator … Continue reading
CNN: [State] Senator discusses police officers wearing body cameras
CNN: Senator discusses police officers wearing body cameras A South Carolina State Senator discussing a bill in the state legislature to require all officers to wear body camera, while referring to the recent shooting as an “accident.”
WaPo: As encryption spreads, U.S. grapples with clash between privacy, security
WaPo: As encryption spreads, U.S. grapples with clash between privacy, security by Ellen Nakashima and Barton Gellman: For months, federal law enforcement agencies and industry have been deadlocked on a highly contentious issue: Should tech companies be obliged to guarantee … Continue reading
NC: If def was an innocent owner of a stolen cell phone, he’d have standing; remanded because no findings on that
Defendant had a cell phone removed from him in a search incident that was searched without a warrant. It was determined that the phone was stolen. Defendant asserted an innocent owner defense that the trial court did not resolve, and, … Continue reading
OR: State fails on probation search justification by not developing it in trial court
The state conceded that the stop was unreasonably extended, but argued inevitable discovery because defendant was on probation and the search of her purse was a product of that. She’d refused consent to search her purse, and then her being … Continue reading