Archives
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Recent Posts
- CA11: Service of SW without attachments isn’t 4A violation
- KS: Running warrants on a passed out person is reasonable
- M.D.Fla.: Unidentified pills in driver’s lap may have been RS but it wasn’t PC for arrest
- D.C.Cir.: It was reasonable for officers to conclude that evidence or instrumentalities of the crime would be found in the car used in a robbery
- CA7: Officer’s warrantless view of CSAM flagged by hash value was not unreasonable
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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)
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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: August 2017
NC: Question is RS for a traffic violation, not that one actually occurred
Defendant was driving on a snowy evening and pulled out from a traffic light and fishtailed, the rear of his truck heading for a sidewalk, but he regained control without going off the road. The trial court found reasonable suspicion … Continue reading
NYTimes: Trump Administration Moves to Expand Deportation Dragnet to Jails
NYTimes: Trump Administration Moves to Expand Deportation Dragnet to Jails by Caitlin Dickerson ABAJ: Plan would designate sheriffs as ICE contractors in bid to bypass Fourth Amendment court decisions By Debra Cassens Weiss They already are yanking defendants awaiting trial … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Basis for traffic stop doesn’t need to be decided where there was independent RS
There’s no point in quibbling here over the basis of the traffic stop because the officer had reasonable suspicion of drug trafficking, too. United States v. Mejia-Palacio, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128922 (E.D. Ky. July 25, 2017), adopted, 2017 U.S. … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: It’s reasonable to infer that def’s shipping firearms to Trinidad would have records in residence and on computers and cell phones there
Defendant was suspected of shipping firearms to Trinidad from Atlanta. “The nature of the criminal conduct in which Defendant was engaged, purchasing firearms for the unlawful export to Trinidad and involving utilizing third parties to make the unlawful firearms purchases … Continue reading
IL again holds that a second officer running a dog around a car while first officer writes ticket is reasonable because it doesn’t extend the stop
A second officer arrived immediately after defendant’s stop for speeding, and he ran a dog around the car while the first officer wrote out a ticket. This process didn’t extend the stop, and that was reasonable. People v. Pulido, 2017 … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Motel room was illegally entered, but it was to preserve the scene not search it, so independent source applied to SW
“In this case, the evidence shows that the officers illegally entered the motel room. However, they only secured the room and did not conduct a search until they had a search warrant. The undisputed evidence shows that the warrant was … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Extraterritorial Gmail SW enforced
A search warrant for Google email stored extraterritorially will be enforced. In re Search Warrant No. 16-960-M-1, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131230 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 17, 2017). The request to search did not come during an unavoidable lull in the … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: The mosaic theory is rejected as to P2P computer searches
A search warrant is not required before using a P2P child pornography acquiring program Roundup eMule. The mosaic theory is rejected as to P2P computer searches. United States v. Blouin, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129886 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 14, 2017). … Continue reading
DC Cir.: The mere fact a person has a cell phone isn’t PC to search it; must be PC evidence would be found
“Most of us nowadays carry a cell phone. And our phones frequently contain information chronicling our daily lives—where we go, whom we see, what we say to our friends, and the like. When a person is suspected of a crime, … Continue reading
CA1: No RS for a protective sweep just because def was suspected of drugs
The government had no evidence of violence or reason to believe that there was anybody else in the apartment to justify a protective sweep. The crime alone, suspected drug trafficking, didn’t provide it. United States v. Delgado-Pérez, 2017 U.S. App. … Continue reading
CA8: RS on totality to frisk a gang member in the middle of a rival gang’s territory
Gang officers had reasonable suspicion to frisk defendant when they encountered him outside an apartment building occupied by rival gang members in the middle of another gang’s territory. He was standing between two illegally parked cars talking to occupants of … Continue reading
CA7: Plainclothes officers have to ID themselves when making a stop
“The jury instructions on Terry stops, however, were inadequate. Over Doornbos’s objection, the court instructed the jury only on investigatory stops but not frisks. Yet Officer Williamson’s own testimony indicates that he was starting a frisk when he first approached … Continue reading
CA6: Jail group strip searches invasive, but penologically justified; ptf must answer defs’ proffered justification
While group strip searches at a jail are invasive, there is a penological justification offered that plaintiff doesn’t answer. There is no clearly established law that these are unreasonable. “The issue we face is whether periodically conducting group strip searches … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Parked RV hooked up to water and electricity with satellite dish on roof with grill and trashcan outside wasn’t subject to automobile exception
Defendant’s RV was being used as a residence when it was searched, and the automobile exception does not apply. Because it was a residence, the search warrant didn’t specify it within the residences to be searched in the search warrant, … Continue reading
American Conservative: Feds Searching Record Number of Our Personal Devices at the Border
American Conservative: Feds Searching Record Number of Our Personal Devices at the Border by Frank Miniter In the name of ‘Homeland Security.’
PA & CA2: Approaching def to talk to him about what’s in his bag was not a seizure
“Consistent with this precedent, we find the officers did not subject Appellant to a seizure when they approached him in a public place and asked him what was inside his bag. The interaction remained a mere encounter as the officers … Continue reading
D.D.C.: SCA allows SW for Google email stored overseas
Google’s storing information overseas doesn’t make it immune to a court order in the U.S., disagreeing with the Second Circuit’s Microsoft I decision. In re Search of Information Associated with [Redacted]@gmail.com that is Stored at Premises Controlled by Google, Inc., … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Omission of CI’s criminal history didn’t mislead magistrate or wasn’t material to PC finding
Failing to include the CI’s criminal history didn’t mislead the magistrate issuing the warrant, and there was probable cause in any event, even without including it. Moreover, the issuing magistrate would have to fairly conclude the CI had criminal involvement. … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: The SW doesn’t have to be in hand at the place of search as long as it is complied with
In a pill mill case against two doctors, the search warrant incorporated a list of what they were looking for by saying “See Exhibit B.” The use of the word “see” incorporated Exhibit B. Moreover, Exhibit B didn’t need to … Continue reading