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Recent Posts
- AR: RS def rented a hotel room was sufficient for search waiver; PC not required
- LA5: No standing to challenge search of shooting victim’s cell phone in def’s possession
- N.D.Okla.: Cell phones possessed by tribal police not subject to return under Rule 41(g)
- E.D.Ark.: Landlord and tenant refused rental property inspection and SW was validly issued and protected privacy interests
- D.D.C.: Judge shopping after denial of SW inappropriate; could have appealed to DJ
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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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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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Section 1983 Blog -
"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: January 2016
CA3: “Computer hardware” and “any equipment” in a child porn SW includes cell phones
“The warrant, as written, defines ‘computer hardware’ broadly. Horton does not and cannot argue that his cell phone is not ‘computer hardware’ as it is defined in the warrant, which includes ‘any equipment’ (emphasis added) capable of transmitting computer data. … Continue reading
NY Bronx: State’s request for def’s DNA came too late under discovery statute
The state’s argument that defendant doesn’t have a Fifth Amendment privilege in his DNA is a straw man not even argued by the defense. He does have a Fourth Amendment right, and the state’s request for DNA here was far … Continue reading
D.Vt.: Smell of burnt marijuana reasonable suspicion to continue stop
“Based on the totality of the circumstances, Trooper Steeves had a reasonable, articulable suspicion that someone in the vehicle had recently smoked marijuana and that Defendant, as the vehicle’s sole occupant, was the likely source of both the odor and … Continue reading
TX2: Warrantless blood draw under TX statute still unconstitutional where no warrant exception applies
The nonconsensual and warrantless search and seizure of defendant’s blood, which the officer conducted under Tex. Transp. Code § 724.012 and without facts supporting an independent exception to the warrant requirement, violated the Fourth Amendment. State v. Swan, 2016 Tex. … Continue reading
FL4: Handcuffing here was unjustified even by officer safety; no RS
There was an abandoned vehicle, and defendant was in the vicinity, standing in the road talking to a local resident, out of breath and sweating. The resident didn’t know him. Things didn’t add up to the officer, so he called … Continue reading
The Hill: 5 things to watch in Internet privacy fight
The Hill: 5 things to watch in Internet privacy fight By Mario Trujillo: Advocates are pressing the Federal Communications Commission to quickly propose strong Internet privacy rules, one of the unfinished parts of last year’s net neutrality order. The agency … Continue reading
MA Suffolk: Since state constitution protects CSLI, it also protects against gathering constant pinging info without probable cause for warrant
Since the SJC said in Commonwealth v. Augustine, 467 Mass. 230, 4 N.E.3d 846 (2014), that CSLI was protected under the state constitution, it must also apply to information about constant pinging which is even more intrusive. Commonwealth v. Jordan, … Continue reading
IL: When a vehicle is stopped because of a warrant on owner, even when discovered owner not driving, officer can ask for DL
Defendant’s van was pulled over because there was a warrant for the owner, a woman. The man driving could not be the owner, and the officer asked for his DL, which was permissible and lawfully incident to the stop under … Continue reading
CA11: After an illegal drug search, the exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to a § 1983 case
Plaintiffs were the target of a search warrant of their property which got suppressed in Georgia state court. Then they sued the cops, and qualified immunity was denied. The cops appealed, and the exclusionary was held inapplicable to the civil … Continue reading
NC: RS came from hand-to-hand transaction observed by one of officer’s CIs
The officer had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant after an apparent hand-to-hand transaction where the officer recognized him as one of his former CIs who bought drugs for him. State v. Travis, 2016 N.C. App. LEXIS 105 (Jan. 19, 2016). … Continue reading
CA10: Def consented to a car search, and he took up offer to sit in patrol car; that with passenger’s suspicious conduct and high crime area justified frisk finding gun
Defendant consented to a search of his car during a traffic stop, and defendant took a deputy up on an offer to sit inside the patrol vehicle during the search. That led to a frisk because the officer would have … Continue reading
On The Media: Do Chicago Police Have a Surveillance Slush Fund?
On The Media: Do Chicago Police Have a Surveillance Slush Fund? Using a barrage of FOIA requests, a group of techies and activists in Chicago is trying to uncover what surveillance equipment local police have, how it was obtained, and … Continue reading
USA Today: FBI ran website sharing thousands of child porn images
USA Today: FBI ran website sharing thousands of child porn images by Brad Heath: WASHINGTON — For nearly two weeks last year, the FBI operated what it described as one of the Internet’s largest child pornography websites, allowing users to … Continue reading
CA8: Exceeding the 30 day notice requirement for delayed notice under 18 U.S.C. § 3103a(b) not a Fourth Amendment violation
The government identified a child pornography server in Nebraska named Pedobook with sophisticated software designed to obscure the identity of all visiters. Rather than shut it down, they got a warrant to install tracking software on the computer and had … Continue reading
S.D.Ala.: Logical to find serial robber’s regular outfit in his house
The defendant was a suspect in a series of robberies, and the robber wore the same things in each. It was reasonable to conclude, therefore, that the robber was keeping the outfit on hand, and it would be found where … Continue reading
FL3: Taking a dog’s dead body to a vet for disposal is an abandonment
Defendant took an injured puppy to a veterinarian for treatment, and then he took it home. Later, the animal died, and he took it back to the vet for a group cremation of the remains. The vet did a necropsy … Continue reading
IN: State failed to show standard inventory procedures were followed
“Officer Greathouse’s testimony was insufficient to prove the inventory search he performed of Rhodes’ vehicle complied with official police policy. Because the State did not present evidence of police procedure, the search violated Rhodes’ Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search … Continue reading
CA7: In a § 1983 case, “Simply put, evidence of a prior arrest does not support a conclusion that the arrested person has in fact broken the law.”
Plaintiff sued the City of Chicago for a 2008 false arrest that the officers say never happened, and there was a defense verdict. Evidence of plaintiff’s prior arrests between 1983 and 1999 were irrelevant and prejudicial. An arrest doesn’t mean … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Search of house of person on supervised release could forcibly go into a locked safe
Defendant was on federal post-conviction supervised release, and his USPO received notification that defendant had a law enforcement contact for possession of stolen property. Defendant also called to inform him of the contact. A cell phone at the scene of … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Waivers in plea agreement included IAC on the motion to suppress
“Movant’s claims that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to file an effective and timely motion to suppress, failing to argue effectively at the hearing on that motion, failing to obtain an evidentiary hearing on the motion to … Continue reading