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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: May 2015
Sputnik: Federal authorities have dropped their appeal of a ruling in Washington State against a police department that nailed a webcam to a utility pole to spy on a suspect’s house 24 hours a day, for weeks on end
Sputnik: Federal authorities have dropped their appeal of a ruling in Washington State against a police department that nailed a webcam to a utility pole to spy on a suspect’s house 24 hours a day, for weeks on end [Remember, … Continue reading
WaPo: The increasing isolation of America’s police
WaPo: The increasing isolation of America’s police by Radley Balko: Politico has put up a fascinating profile of Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, which is the country’s largest police union. More than anything, the profile … Continue reading
WaPo: How the DEA took a young man’s life savings without ever charging him with a crime
WaPo: How the DEA took a young man’s life savings without ever charging him with a crime by Christopher Ingraham: Joseph Rivers was hoping to hit it big. According to the Albuquerque Journal, the aspiring businessman from just outside of … Continue reading
WaPo: Why the ruling against the NSA’s phone records program could have huge implications
WaPo: Why the ruling against the NSA’s phone records program could have huge implications by Andrea Peterson: A federal appeals court ruling that the National Security Agency’s collection of millions of Americans’ phone records is illegal could undercut more than … Continue reading
CA3: Three connected cases
When the officer went to an apartment in response to a shots fired call, and defendant came running out knocking the officer over, that was reasonable suspicion to detain him. The crack in his hand was dropped. United States v. … Continue reading
OH2: A general motion to suppress did not put state on notice to issue it wasn’t prepared to litigate; waiver found
Defendant’s motion to suppress did not put the state on notice that his primary issue was the qualifications of the drug dog and handler, so the issue was not preserved for appeal. State v. Matthews, 2015-Ohio-1750, 2015 Ohio App. LEXIS … Continue reading
D.Md.: When a business is in receivership, the receiver is the one with standing
Defendant lacked standing because the receiver of the business was the only one with standing. United States v. Cohen, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60840 (D. Md. May 7, 2015) (Treatise § 12.52 n.1). A drug dog’s alert on the passenger … Continue reading
DC: Cold case DNA hit confirmed by DNA SW would not be excluded even if original sample was taken wrongfully, which isn’t decided
Defendant’s DNA was collected from him in the BOP in 2005 while he was there on another conviction out of D.C. It was 2009 before it was tested under the DNA Backlog Elimination Act. It matched a cold case in … Continue reading
TownHall.com: Federal Court: Why Yes, The Police Can Track Your Phone Without A Warrant // misleading headline
TownHall.com: Federal Court: Why Yes, The Police Can Track Your Phone Without A Warrant by Matt Vespa: Data collection and tracking are getting their fair share of scrutiny from the courts, though not all opinions are favorable for those who … Continue reading
LawFare: “Reasonable Search” or “Reasonable Expectation of Privacy:” A Brief Reply to Orin Kerr on the 2nd Circuit’s Decision
LawFare: “Reasonable Search” or “Reasonable Expectation of Privacy:” A Brief Reply to Orin Kerr on the 2nd Circuit’s Decision by Yishai Schwartz: Thursday’s 2nd Circuit decision striking down 215 ends with a brief, and unresolved, rumination on the impact explicit … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Email warrant need only show “fair probability” evidence would be found in it; all emails for three years not overbroad in conspiracy case
Defendant’s email account, shown on a website as a “contact” email address, was accessed by a search warrant for evidence of her being involved in a fraud against the government. Direct evidence that an email account actually contains evidence is … Continue reading
CA6: Indictment not founded on false facts precludes Bivens action
Michigan Hutaree militia members were indicted, tried, and acquitted. Their Bivens action for malicious prosecution fails. The indictment was not based on provably false testimony, and there was thus probable cause for the case to go forward. “The indictment in … Continue reading
KS statute tracks Chimel on search incident, and cell phone search was unreasonable (even before Riley was decided)
Defendant was stopped for a headlight being out in 2009. He ended up getting arrested and handcuffed for an open container and then possession of marijuana. The officer got his cell phone and scrolled through it asking about drug transactions. … Continue reading
EFF Case Analysis: Appeals Court Rules NSA Phone Records Dragnet is Illegal
EFF Case Analysis: Appeals Court Rules NSA Phone Records Dragnet is Illegal by Andrew Crocker: We now have the first decision from a court of appeals on the NSA’s mass surveillance program involving bulk collection of telephone records under Section … Continue reading
MA: Any objective facts of domestic violence inside on a 911 call supports entry
There is weighty interest of the state in preventing and prosecuting domestic violence. Accordingly, the court almost comes out and says that police get the benefit of the doubt for a warrantless entry under the emergency aid exception if any … Continue reading
FL2: A glass pipe in the pocket was subject to plain feel
A glass pipe in the pocket was subject to plain feel. Conyers v. State, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6681 (Fla. 2d DCA May 6, 2015). In isolation, defendant’s actions were likely innocent, but collectively they added up to reasonable suspicion. … Continue reading
Photography Is Not A Crime (PINAC) — Police behaving badly
Photography Is Not A Crime (PINAC) has been cited here before, but a link on the internet took me there again today, and I perused it for a while, finding many interesting citizen-made videos of cops going overboard. One from … Continue reading
RI: LEO’s wife violated wiretap and SCA with keylogger, but his dept can use it in administrative proceedings
Plaintiff is a Rhode Island police officer whose wife installed a keylogger to track his computer usage about his potential infidelity. She turned it over to his department. He was suspended for two years with pay for the duration. Her … Continue reading