Archives
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Recent Posts
- 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
- CAAF: Information on computer stored in evidence room wasn’t stale
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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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)
ACLU on privacy
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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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 2016
CA5: There is no “contemporaneity between the evidence supporting probable cause and the arrest.”
There is no “contemporaneity between the evidence supporting probable cause and the arrest.” It’s up to police discretion when to arrest. Essentially: Staleness doesn’t apply to PC for arrest. United States v. Clark, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 7959 (5th Cir. … Continue reading
CA5: Violation of policy against hogtying arrestee isn’t a constitutional violation
Decedent was Tasered when he was fighting officers and wouldn’t comply with repeated requests. He was finally hogtied, too, and he stopped breathing. Paramedics were called, and he ultimately died. Viewing the undisputed facts most favorably to the estate, the … Continue reading
NV: Sealing affidavit without explanation or timely providing inventory not ground to suppress
The state showed reason to seal the affidavit for the search warrant in this murder case at the time of issuance, and the threshold isn’t high. [The court chides the defense for not citing law in support, then fails to … Continue reading
InfoWorld: Warrantless searches surge as online privacy dwindles
InfoWorld: Warrantless searches surge as online privacy dwindles by Caroline Craig: The government’s use of warrantless searches and secret requests for information is exploding, and recent court actions have greatly expanded the reach of legal searches. The digital age is … Continue reading
Center for Democracy and Technology: Issue Brief: Proposed Changes to Rule 41
Center for Democracy and Technology: Issue Brief: Proposed Changes to Rule 41: The Rule Change: Under the old Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, magistrates with authority in a district may only issue warrants for search and … Continue reading
WBEZ: Police Data Cast Doubt On Chicago-Style Stop-And-Frisk
WBEZ: Police Data Cast Doubt On Chicago-Style Stop-And-Frisk by Chip Mitchell: …[P]olice department data reveal a complicated picture. The records, obtained by WBEZ through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, show negative trends as officers reported more stops: Gun seizures … Continue reading
NYTimes: Former Officer Is Jailed Months Without Charges, Over Encrypted Drives
NYTimes: Former Officer Is Jailed Months Without Charges, Over Encrypted Drives by Christine Hauser: A former police sergeant has been held without charges in a federal detention cell in Philadelphia, part of an effort by the authorities to pressure him … Continue reading
Oklahoma Watch: Okla. Authorities Have or Use Controversial Cellphone Tracker
Oklahoma Watch: Okla. Authorities Have or Use Controversial Cellphone Tracker by Clifton Adcock: At least two Oklahoma law enforcement agencies possess or have used a controversial device, shrouded in secrecy, to track and collect information from cellphones, an Oklahoma Watch … Continue reading
VT: Stop was based on RS despite def’s good reason for the alleged violation
The officer had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant for not driving in his traffic lane despite defendant’s argument that he moved over because the glare of headlights in his mirrors was blinding him. That’s a defense to the charge but … Continue reading
MO: Def’s impending search was unreasonable, so his flight didn’t give further justification
Defendant was stopped for not having a front license plate on his car, although it was on the dash. At worst, this was an infraction. When defendant got out of the car, the officer could smell marijuana on him, and … Continue reading
CA10: GFE applies throughout: arguable PC overcomes allegation of lack of neutral detached magistrate, overbreadth, and even staleness
“This case calls for us to apply Leon where the judge who issued the search warrant was arguably not neutral and detached. Although we are unaware of any court applying the good faith exception in such circumstances, it is apparent … Continue reading
IA: No apparent authority of apartment dweller to consent to search of visitor’s backpack
The resident of an apartment lacked apparent authority to consent to a search of a visitor’s backpack. The visitor had been arrested for a robbery and removed from the apartment, and the officers went back for his backpack left in … Continue reading
CA3: Payton’s “reason to believe” language from Payton/Steagald amounts to probable cause, noting conflict
Payton’s “reason to believe” language from Payton/Steagald amounts to probable cause, such that officers who have an arrest warrant for a suspect have to show “probable cause” that the suspect resides at or is present at a particular address before … Continue reading
CA11: Deputy sheriff arresting people working for foreclosure company’s agents on his house gets no immunity
Defendant deputy sheriff arrested the agents of the company foreclosing on his house, and they spent the night in jail. No immunity. “Being a law-enforcement officer is not a license to break the law. And it is certainly not a … Continue reading
techdirt: National Intelligence Office’s Top Lawyer Fires Off Spirited Defense Of Bulk Surveillance, Third Party Doctrine
techdirt: National Intelligence Office’s Top Lawyer Fires Off Spirited Defense Of Bulk Surveillance, Third Party Doctrine by Tim Cushing: Robert Litt, General Counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, has been given space at the Yale Law … Continue reading
IN: Walking into a house during a drug raid justifies a frisk
Defendant drove up to a house in the process of a drug raid. Eight people were in custody. Defendant was stopped when he got to the door, and he was frisked and a gun was found. The search was valid … Continue reading
KS: State gets benefit of GFE in DUI cases in a post-McNeely stop but before state supreme court ruled
While McNeely was decided in April 2013 and defendant’s DWI stop was in September 2013, the state supreme court had not held the implied consent statute unconstitutional until later. Therefore, the good faith exception applied. State v. Kraemer, 2016 Kan. … Continue reading
AL SWs must be executed only by the officers to whom they are directed
Search warrants in Alabama have to be executed only by the officers to whom they are directed. Here, the warrant was to the Sheriff of Mobile County, but an officer of the Mobile PD executed it. This was invalid execution. … Continue reading