Archives
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Recent Posts
- 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
- CO: DNA could be seized from trash
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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)
ACLU on privacy
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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: March 2019
S.D.N.Y.: Def had standing in his own work computer but not the company server
Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his own work computer, but not on what was on the company server. Because the crimes under investigation were listed in the search warrant, the warrant wasn’t general. United States v. Mendlowitz, … Continue reading
TX9: Def abandoned trailer he was living in along with all its contents
Defendant and his family were living in a trailer they abandoned. After a broken water line inside, the trailer and contents were damaged, and they moved out, apparently never to return. When the owner found the trailer, there was mold … Continue reading
Washington Examiner: The NSA stopped collecting bulk phone data, and nothing bad happened
Washington Examiner: The NSA stopped collecting bulk phone data, and nothing bad happened by Dan King:
Law.com: What’s Next: Thinking About Privacy Post-Carpenter + Getting Ahead of Drone Law
Law.com: What’s Next: Thinking About Privacy Post-Carpenter + Getting Ahead of Drone Law by ALM Staff: We caught up with USC law professor Orin Kerr to talk about the pressures that digital technology places on the Fourth Amendment and where … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Use of military weaponry (flash bang) in a residential neighborhood is LEO discretion under FTCA
The choice of law enforcement officers to use flash bang devices in a residential neighborhood at 4 a.m. is discretionary with the police and not unreasonable as a matter of law: “weighing of such risks against the necessity of using … Continue reading
GA: Lifetime GPS monitoring of SVPs after parole and the SO registry unreasonable under 4A
Lifetime GPS monitoring of a sexually violent predator was a Fourth Amendment violation that does not satisfy the special needs doctrine and is unreasonable. Despite the diminished expectation of privacy of a person on post-conviction supervision, this is just too … Continue reading
MO: “All data” SW for cell phone was particular where crimes under investigation also listed in SW
No Missouri case deals with the question of particularity in a cell phone search. One group finds “all data” warrants not particular. Others hold such warrants valid if the crime under investigation is also mentioned. Here it was mentioned to … Continue reading
CA2: Even if SW was unlawful, def’s statement was attenuated
Even if the search warrant was unlawful for failure to specify the apartment to be searched, defendant’s statement was an intervening independent act of free will in disclosing the location of a CD of child pornography. The exclusionary rule would … Continue reading
Biometric Update: Constitutional rights group recommends laws limiting facial biometrics use by U.S. law enforcement
Biometric Update: Constitutional rights group recommends laws limiting facial biometrics use by U.S. law enforcement by Chris Burt:
D.Mass.: Realtime CSLI on exigency was reasonable under Carpenter
Warrantless realtime CSLI for exigency did not violate Carpenter. Indeed, exigencies are contemplated by Carpenter. [Aside from the fact Carpenter came after all this happened.] Defendant also consented to other seizures. United States v. Saemisch, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32706 … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Suggestion def look in console for insurance papers revealing a gun in plain view wasn’t a search
During defendant’s stop, he couldn’t find his insurance papers. Defendant rummaged through papers here and there. The officer suggested defendant look in the center console again, and this time the officer saw a gun. The suggestion he look in the … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: PC shown: “the Court is concerned with what the Affidavit actually contains, not what a critic thinks it should contain”
On the totality of circumstances, the information from the anonymous CI was adequately cooroborated to give probable cause. “Further, Defendant criticizes the Search Warrant for what it lacks — no mention of others residing at Property and no detail about … Continue reading
NY Times: Disputed N.S.A. Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says
NY Times: Disputed N.S.A. Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says by Charlie Savage: WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency has quietly shut down a system that analyzes logs of Americans’ domestic calls and texts, according to a senior Republican … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Exclusionary rule inapplicable to revo of federal supervised release
The exclusionary rule does not apply to searches leading to revocation of federal supervised release. United States v. Tran, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32836 (D. Kan. Mar. 1, 2019). “Defendant speculates, based on information in a search warrant application, that … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Def made a proper showing for a Rule 17(c) subpoena for discovery for his unique 4A claim
Defendant has made a prima facie case to get a Rule 17(c) subpoena for evidence for his suppression hearing. His suppression theory is unique, but not frivolous, so the court is going to grant leeway to permit discovery. United States … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Officers falsely swore def’s friend “lived or stayed there”; she visited after a small heroin deal, and there was no PC at all
Defendant was visited by a friend after an $80 heroin sale. There was no nexus to defendant’s house by the friend who’d only visited a few times over a long period of time. The police also falsely swore that she … Continue reading
FL2: Search incident for being in a city park after hours unreasonable
A custodial arrest for being in a city park after closing time and a search incident was invalid. State law cautions against search incident for noncriminal violations. Nelson v. State, 2019 Fla. App. LEXIS 3159 (Fla. 2d DCA Mar. 1, … Continue reading
CA7: RS existed for defs’ stop despite others had been stopped, too: “Terry does not authorize broad dragnets, but it also does not require perfection or precision.”
On the totality, officers had reasonable suspicion for a Terry stop of defendants for being involved in an armed robbery. He was near the scene, walking away, although he matched the description by race and gender. Moreover, two other men … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: IAC claim approached similar to GFE for the defense lawyer under Strickland
Defendant filed a 2255 that defense counsel was ineffective for not filing a motion to suppress the search of his RV on the curtilage in a child pornography case. The warrant mentioned curtilage. The case law goes both ways, and … Continue reading