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Recent Posts
- CAAF: Information on computer stored in evidence room wasn’t stale
- CAAF: SW’s incorporated affidavit satisfied particularity, reliance on CA10 case not CAAF case was error
- CA10: Def’s BO suggesting heroin abuse added to RS
- WaPo: They confided in ChatGPT. Their secrets ended up in court.
- CA6: No interlocutory appeal of denial of motion to suppress
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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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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)
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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: January 2017
CA9: 911 call about suicide by overdose justified entry
Police received a 911 call about a suicide by overdose, and the entry into the premises was reasonable. Ames v. King County, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 660 (9th Cir. Jan. 13, 2017). Claimant failed to make a Fourth Amendment claim … Continue reading
D.Mass.: The things to be searched for in SW could be kept in a safe, so the safe could be opened
“Here, it was reasonable to believe that items named in the search warrant—drugs, money, and records—could be stored in safes located in Owens’s bedroom. Thus, the police searching Owens’s bedroom had the authority to pry open the safes they found … Continue reading
CA5: SW for video voyeur’s recordings not stale; they are intended to be kept
An affidavit for a search warrant for a video voyeur’s recordings wasn’t stale because the digital information was to be downloaded, stored, and kept. United States v. Aleman, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 618 (5th Cir. Jan. 12, 2017). On the … Continue reading
D.Colo.: Defs’ calls captured on FISA application were reasonable
Defendants were charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization, and their conversations were captured in a FISA application. This motion to suppress was based on disclosure two years into the case of other acquisitions of information about him. … Continue reading
IA: CoA declines to obviate the automobile exception; that’s up to state SCt if it ever happens
“On appeal, Wagamon ‘urges that now is the time to determine if the automobile exception is out of date and incompatible with the protections offered by the Iowa Constitution.’” That’s the prerogative only of the state supreme court. State v. … Continue reading
CA8: Def’s statement was attenuated from the false statement that led to the SW being issued
An untrue statement in an affidavit for search warrant was attenuated from defendant’s later confession. All four factors of the attenuation doctrine weighed in favor of not suppressing statements defendant made during his interview with the agent. The causal connection … Continue reading
TN: “Nexus” applies to PC and automobile exception
The nexus requirement of probable cause and the place to be searched applies to automobile exception searches. Here, the question is close, but the court concludes there was a showing of nexus between the vehicle and the offense. State v. … Continue reading
NJ: Officer’s entry into def’s home for def to retrieve his ID was without justification and therefore was unreasonable
An investigative stop in an apartment complex parking lot, not based on reasonable suspicion, did not justify following defendant into his home to get his ID, especially after the officer did a quick patdown before they went in. Once inside, … Continue reading
IA: An exchange of texts between def and deceased justified search of cell phone; computer search also justified
Only the information in the search warrant application can be considered on the question of whether there was probable cause for its issuance. In this murder case, the absence of evidence in defendant’s car led to an inference it could … Continue reading
MA: No RS on totality for stop and frisk of the defendant on a shots fired call
On the totality of information, the motions judge erred in concluding that there was reasonable suspicion for defendant. In fact, his findings undermined the holding. Commonwealth v. Meneus, 476 Mass. 231 (Jan. 11, 2017)*:
E.D.Pa.: Particularity requirement has to be more flexible in complex cases
In complex cases, the particularly requirement has to be flexible enough to accommodate the substantial amount of information that will be sought and obtained. These two warrants, from 2011 and 2014, were constitutionally particular. United States v. Devos Ltd., 2017 … Continue reading
TX6: USDC dismissal w/o prejudice for Heck bar not preclusive of later state court action
Plaintiff originally sued in federal court and was barred by Heck, but dismissal was without prejudice to removal of the Heck bar. That was not preclusive of a state court action as res judicata. He claimed an unlawful seizure and … Continue reading
Chicago Tribune: Justice report finds systemic failures by Chicago police
Chicago Tribune: Justice report finds systemic failures by Chicago police by Jason Meisner, Annie Sweeney, Dan Hinkel and Jeremy Gorner: The U.S. Department of Justice has released a long-awaited report castigating the Chicago Police Department for abuse against citizens, excessive … Continue reading
New law review article: Is Qualified Immunity Unlawful?
William Baude, Is Qualified Immunity Unlawful?. Abstract:
Tenth Amendment Center: New Mexico Bill Takes on Stingray Spying, Bulk Warrantless Data Collection; Would Also Hinder Some Federal Surveillance Programs
New Mexico Bill Takes on Stingray Spying, Bulk Warrantless Data Collection; Would Also Hinder Some Federal Surveillance Programs: SANTA FE, N.M. (Jan. 12, 2017) – A electronic data privacy bill introduced in the New Mexico Senate would ban the use … Continue reading
CA6: Factual disputes deny appellate jurisdiction for excessive force qualified immunity appeal
There were disputes of fact on plaintiff’s excessive force claim that deprived this court of appellate jurisdiction over it. Harmon v. Hamilton County, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 497 (6th Cir. Jan. 9, 2017)*:
CA5: Frivolous 4A § 1983 case dismissed on MSJ and not appealed results in attorneys fees for defs
Plaintiffs ran a pawnshop that was searched. They were of “the short-lived reality TV program ‘Cajun Pawn Stars.’” They bought, not pawned, some equipment that turned out to have been stolen, and the police came and searched their pawnshop for … Continue reading
D.Utah: Ptfs alleged enough to stay in court against NSA sweeping up all calls in SLC during 2002 Winter Olympics
Plaintiffs plead enough to stay in court. They claimed that the NSA, with the authority of President Bush, intercepted and still stores all communications in the Salt Lake City area during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Amnesty International v. Clapper is … Continue reading
Orange County Register: Editorial: DEA must end its informant program now
Orange County Register: Editorial: DEA must end its informant program now: The DEA and other law enforcement agencies face skewed priorities when they can search and seize property — and then keep the proceeds — without so much as probable … Continue reading
WaPo: ‘The Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: The Geek Squad and the Fourth Amendment
WaPo: ‘The Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: The Geek Squad and the Fourth Amendment by Orin Kerr: This isn’t a new issue. There have been cases on computer repairmen turning over computers with child pornography going back at least as far as … Continue reading