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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: February 2016
D.Kan.: Cell phone ping order was issued on PC; additional claim of exigency to speed it up wasn’t unconstitutional
The government obtained a tracking warrant from a Kansas state court judge to ping two cell phones to find the owners, and they were issued on probable cause and complied with the Fourth Amendment. Because it was the weekend, the … Continue reading
Natl. Home School Legal Defense Assn.: Protect Your Right to Keep Kids Home during Portfolio Review
Natl. Home School Legal Defense Assn.: Protect Your Right to Keep Kids Home during Portfolio Review (MD), by Scott Woodruff: What should you do if a local portfolio reviewer asks you to bring your child with you to an annual … Continue reading
CA6: Ten weeks of pole camera surveillance on rural property no Fourth Amendment violation
The Sixth Circuit distinguishes Anderson-Bagshaw and holds ten weeks of pole camera surveillance on rural property violated no reasonable expectation of privacy. “Rocky Houston appeals his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 … Continue reading
TakePart: A Lawsuit Could Rein In the Government’s Use of Secret Surveillance Tools
TakePart: A Lawsuit Could Rein In the Government’s Use of Secret Surveillance Tools by Rebecca McCray: A controversial tool used by law enforcement to track the location of suspects via their cell phones could take a major hit next week … Continue reading
Don’t expect much this week
I had five major deadlines in a row. No. 4 was a brief finished at 9:45 last night after two weeks of work in one of the FBI withdrawn hair analysis cases from a 1979 conviction. With our state abstracting … Continue reading
CA1: Two computer tech’s searches were private searches; police called after first, but didn’t have enough
Defendant took his computer for repair, and the repair guy encountered pictures of children that made him uncomfortable. He called the police and described them. The officer didn’t think that a crime occurred, and he said so. The computer guy … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: General description of attacker here was a complete lack of PC for arrest
Defendant was searched incident to arrest for a rape. There, however, was a complete lack of probable cause for his arrest, and the search is suppressed. He was only the same general height and description of the attacker, and he … Continue reading
FL5: SW in burglary had no nexus, was fatally overbroad, and no GFE
The affidavit for the search warrant in this case completely lacked probable cause by showing a nexus to defendant, 12 other burglaries, and the place to be searched. Moreover, the list of things to be seized was completely without particularity … Continue reading
NPR: Court Ruling Forces Police In Southern States To Reconsider Use Of Tasers
NPR: Court Ruling Forces Police In Southern States To Reconsider Use Of Tasers by Martin Kaste: The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unexpectedly ruled to limit how officers may use Tasers or other stun guns. In states such as … Continue reading
WaPo: Radley Balko’s “The Watch” Blog: A new report shows the limits of police body cameras
WaPo: Radley Balko’s “The Watch” Blog: A new report shows the limits of police body cameras Cameras can be a step toward transparency, but it depends on how they’re used.
NC: Strip search for drugs in buttocks was based on PC
Officers had probable cause to believe that defendant had drugs secreted on his person. When a search of his clothing produced nothing, officers could then make him remove his clothes to search underneath them. Drugs were hidden in his buttocks. … Continue reading
techdirt: Prosecutors Argue Cell Site Location Data Is Something Every User Shares With ‘The Rest Of The World’
techdirt: Prosecutors Argue Cell Site Location Data Is Something Every User Shares With ‘The Rest Of The World’ by Tim Cushing: The state of Maryland’s defense of the Baltimore PD’s warrantless use of Stingray devices continues, taking the form of … Continue reading
NY3: Nighttime search was justified, and defendant wasn’t even home
Police justified a nighttime search warrant at defendant’s house. He was a suspect in a robbery with a knife to the victim’s throat where the victim was forced into an apartment. In the ensuing struggle, the victim said the suspect … Continue reading
Cal. AG argues exclusionary rule shouldn’t apply in a death case penalty phase; held, not preserved below
Defendant’s car was not on the premises when a warrant was served there, so it was not subject to the search warrant. Defendant denied ownership of the car, but nobody inquired into whether he had a legitimate possessory interest in … Continue reading
D.Nev.: SWAT team in your house is “custodial” for Miranda purposes
After the LVMPD SWAT team raided defendant’s house and held everybody at gunpoint in zipties, the situation was custodial. The government had no evidence defendant was Mirandized before he made an incriminating statement. [The fact the government argued it wasn’t … Continue reading
ABAJ: Texas police turn into ‘mobile debt collectors’ with license-reader program
ABAJ: Texas police turn into ‘mobile debt collectors’ with license-reader program by Debra Cassens Weiss:
Reason.com: Fourth Amendment Protections for Emails Inch Forward in Congress
Reason.com: Fourth Amendment Protections for Emails Inch Forward in Congress by Scott Shackford: Legislation would require warrants for old communications. There is a big, huge gap in your Fourth Amendment protection against government searches without a warrant that goes all … Continue reading
Voice of San Diego: Watchdog Group Urges Sheriff to Tweak New Body Camera Policies
Voice of San Diego: Watchdog Group Urges Sheriff to Tweak New Body Camera Policies by Kelly Davis: When should an officer be allowed to review body camera footage? Before writing an incident report or after?
WaPo: Future of the exclusionary rule? Preview of Utah v. Strieff
WaPo: Preview of Utah v. Strieff by Orin Kerr: SCOTUSblog has posted a preview I authored about Utah v. Strieff, a Fourth Amendment case on the scope of the exclusionary rule. Here’s the introduction:
CA6: Judicial immunity against false arrest damages case for judge ordering confinement for non-payment of fines
A municipal judge and clerk were absolutely immune from a damages claim for false arrest under § 1983 where the judge ordered the defendant to jail for nonpayment of fines. Even if wrong, they are judicial acts entitled to immunity. … Continue reading