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Recent Posts
- 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
- D.Utah: Minor time detours to writing up a traffic ticket didn’t unreasonable extend this stop; the dog was quickly on its way
- KY: Despite lack of nexus, SW sustained under GFE
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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)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (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: October 2018
D.Ariz.: Affidavit for SW showed fair probability cell phone was used in crime
“The Court finds there was a fair probability that Defendant was using the cell phone in furtherance of drug trafficking and money laundering and that physical location data for that phone would lead to evidence, fruits, or instrumentalities of those … Continue reading
DE: The affidavit for SW didn’t support the CI; motion to suppress granted
The affidavit for the search warrant here was based on a CI’s information and claim that he was constantly surveilled, but that wasn’t true because the officer admitted he didn’t see the alleged drug transaction go down. On the surface … Continue reading
OH8: Home inspections was a reasonable probation condition for 42 housing code violations
Defendant was convicted of 42 counts of housing code violations of a house in constant disrepair since 2002. As a condition of probation, he was ordered to permit home inspections, and this was reasonably related to the offense of conviction. … Continue reading
Off Topic: MA: Crime lab drug analyist’s misconduct coupled with state’s failure to disclose leads to dismissal of more cases
In the case involving the drug lab chemist’s theft of drugs and false reports, the Massachusetts SJC orders dismissal of other cases not already dismissed by the state for the combined effect of her actions and the state’s failure to … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: SW lacked PC and was not particular: “his search warrant is among the broadest and most general warrants that have been reviewed by” this judge
The search warrant for defendant’s computer was essentially based on a hunch that it contained evidence in a homicide case, but the affidavit fails to state what. In a lengthy analysis, the court finds the computer warrant lacking in probable … Continue reading
NY Times: Most White Americans’ DNA Can Be Identified Through Genealogy Databases
NY Times: Most White Americans’ DNA Can Be Identified Through Genealogy Databases by Heather Murphy: And, of course, it can be subpoenaed by the government.
N.D.W.Va.: SW for computer hard drive for evidence of murder or plans was necessarily broad and not unreasonable
Defendant was being held on a murder charge, and he made a jail call to his parents to have his computer hard drive wiped clean. Hearing that, police obtained a search warrant for the computer believing that it might have … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: No standing in a shipped package found in another’s car where def’s name not on box as sender or recipient
Defendant had no standing to challenge the search of a previously shipped package located in another person’s vehicle that had his name nowhere on it as recipient or sender. Also, the search of the package was valid by consent and … Continue reading
IA: The facts showing RS can also add up to PC
The facts supporting reasonable suspicion to stop defendant were enough for probable cause, and add to that the fact defendant slowed down and tossed a baggie of marijuana from the car. Mention in a search warrant of a Nevada drug … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Court can’t exclude for knock-and-announce failure
Failure to properly knock-and-announce is foreclosed as a reason for exclusion under Hudson v. Michigan. United States v. Calligan, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173193 (N.D. Ind. Oct. 9, 2018). 2255 petitioner was not prejudiced by defense counsel’s failure to challenge … Continue reading
CA7: Pre-Collins dog sniff of car on property was valid when it happened; GFE applies
A pre-Collins v. Virginia dog sniff of defendant’s car on his property was valid under circuit law at the time it occurred, so the good faith exception requires no suppression. United States v. Velazquez, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28445 (7th … Continue reading
OH4: Specific evidence not required for each element of a crime for PC to exist
The affidavit for the search warrant showed probable cause on the totality for marijuana on defendant’s property. Defendant’s flight when seeing the officers only added to it. Probable cause does not require the same type of specific evidence of each … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Lifting a bag on an empty bus’s overhead rack to see the name tag was not a search
Travelers have a reasonable expectation of privacy that their luggage will not be manipulated in a way to effectively search it. That does not mean that officers can’t perform a dog sniff or move it without manipulating it. Here, the … Continue reading
CA3: Statute of limitations is from the search, not when a court holds it unreasonable
The statute of limitations for an illegal search is from when it happens, not when a court declares it unreasonable. Nguyen v. Pennsylvania, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28524 (3d Cir. Oct. 10, 2018). Off topic but important: “Egregious” Brady and … Continue reading
Forbes: Will Governments Turn Our Smart Devices Into A Massive Surveillance Network?
Forbes: Will Governments Turn Our Smart Devices Into A Massive Surveillance Network? by Kalev Leetaru: Instead of hiding from the devices, we ensure they have the best possible vantage point from which to observe our every move and hear our … Continue reading
Website been down 44 hours because of server failure in Chicago server farm
Or so they say. It took a long time to recreate because of the 20,000+ posts that were there. And, the posts from October 5-8 were lost in the crash. I guess I’ll have redo those. This will stay at … Continue reading
ID: Open container violation permits automobile exception of passenger compartment search for more
Defendant’s possession of a cool open beer can in his cup holder and an empty can and other full cans in the back seat permitted a search under the automobile exception of the glove compartment for more open containers [like … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Govt planting video camera in neighbor’s house aiming at def’s backyard didn’t violate 4A
Officers put a video camera in defendant’s back neighbor’s house to look at defendant’s back yard over the long term. This was similar to a pole camera, except that its view was the same as the back neighbor’s, and it … Continue reading
IN recognizes attenuation doctrine under state constitution’s exclusionary rule.
Indiana recognizes attenuation doctrine under state constitution’s exclusionary rule. Wright v. State, 2018 Ind. LEXIS 565 (Oct. 4, 2018):
The Marshall Project: Forget The Ticket–Could You Get Arrested For A Parking Violation?
The Marshall Project: Forget The Ticket–Could You Get Arrested For A Parking Violation? by Katy Naples-Mitchell: