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- CA7: No IAC in failure to more aggressively pursue Franks challenge
- CA9: Compelled use of fingerprint to open a cell phone didn’t violate 5A
- Lawfare: How Google’s Location History Program Could Upend Digital Surveillance Law
- CA6 disagrees with CA7 on de minimis injuries under § 1983 force cases
- MO: No duty of care owed by police to fleeing motorist
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Monthly Archives: April 2019
CA9: Ostensibly Heck barred claim at least has to be filed to toll the statute of limitations
An ostensibly Heck barred claim at least has to be filed to toll the statute of limitations. Then it can be stayed. Mills v. City of Covina, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 11948 (9th Cir. Apr. 23, 2019). There was probable … Continue reading
Reason: The Feds Are Dropping Child Porn Cases Instead of Revealing Info on Their Surveillance Systems
Reason: The Feds Are Dropping Child Porn Cases Instead of Revealing Info on Their Surveillance Systems by Elizabeth Nolan Brown Human Rights Watch and other groups say these systems draw serious concerns.
Criminal Justice: Facial Recognition Technology: Where Will It Take Us?
Criminal Justice: Facial Recognition Technology: Where Will It Take Us? by Kristine Hamann & Rachel Smith:
ABAJ: GPS ankle monitors can call and record people without consent; do they violate 5th Amendment?
ABAJ: GPS ankle monitors can call and record people without consent; do they violate 5th Amendment? by Debra Cassens Weiss:
CA6: Parking enforcement’s chalking a car tire is a trespass and a search
The City’s chalking a car tire for a potential parking violation invades the property of the owner of the vehicle and constitutes a search. Taylor v. City of Saginaw, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 11586 (6th Cir. Apr. 22, 2019):
E.D.N.C.: Body camera corroborated RS for frisk
“Body camera footage corroborated the detectives’ testimony that the circumstances reasonably suggested Defendant may have been armed and that a pat-down search was needed to ensure officer safety. …. When faced with an uncooperative and seemingly agitated individual suspected of … Continue reading
PBS: Police are now taking roadside blood samples to catch impaired drivers
PBS: Police are now taking roadside blood samples to catch impaired drivers by Jenni Bergal:
Law.com: ‘Carpenter’ Squared: Review and Reconcile State Court Cases Impacted by Landmark SCOTUS Decision
Law.com: ‘Carpenter’ Squared: Review and Reconcile State Court Cases Impacted by Landmark SCOTUS Decision by Peter A. Crusco In his Cyber Crime column, Peter A. Crusco writes: Now that the initial dust raised by ‘Carpenter’ has settled, it is illuminating … Continue reading
WY: New facts after the stop not required if there was RS all along
New facts after the stop are not required to extend the stop, as long as there is reasonable suspicion with the stop. Brown v. State, 2019 WY 42, 2019 Wyo. LEXIS 44 (Apr. 19, 2019). Pre-Carpenter obtaining of CSLI was … Continue reading
AR: Claim of misstatement or incorrect fact in SW affidavit doesn’t state Franks claim without allegation it was reckless or intentional
Merely stating that information in the affidavit for search warrant was incorrect doesn’t preserve a Franks challenge without also alleging that it was recklessly or intentionally made. King v. State, 2019 Ark. 114, 2019 Ark. LEXIS 125 (Apr. 18, 2019). … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: RS of drugs doesn’t automatically mean “armed and dangerous”
Reasonable suspicion defendant was involved with drugs does not equate with “armed and dangerous.” Without minimizing the danger weapons would create, it’s a dangerous precedent to go that far just based on officers’ experience. United States v. Gallegos, 2019 U.S. … Continue reading
NextGov: FBI’s Facial Recognition Programs Under Fire Over Privacy, Accuracy Concerns
NextGov: FBI’s Facial Recognition Programs Under Fire Over Privacy, Accuracy Concerns by Jack Corrigan The bureau has largely ignored the Government Accountability Office’s concerns about its use of facial recognition in criminal investigations.
CA10: QI properly granted in homeowner’s 4A claim against officer executing arrest warrant for another
The district court properly granted qualified immunity to a trailer resident’s Fourth Amendment claims against a deputy sheriff stemming from a search and seizure conducted while executing an arrest warrant for a guest staying in the trailer. The law was … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Moving car for more intense automobile exception search was reasonable
A search under the automobile exception properly includes dismantling the car stereo if the officers think there is something potentially there. It was also reasonable to move the car to a different location for a more intense search. United States … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Def had standing as a bailee in a backpack
Defendant had standing as a bailee in a backpack. He disclaimed ownership of it, but he attempted to assert control over it and he refused consent to search. He also did not abandon the backpack, either. United States v. Hannold, … Continue reading
NYT: We Built a (Legal) Facial Recognition Machine for $60
NYT: We Built a (Legal) Facial Recognition Machine for $60 by Sahil Chinoy. They took the feeds from online cameras and matches faces at, for example, Bryant Park
S.D.Fla.: Younger abstention bars a § 1983 case over the search of plaintiff while the state criminal case is pending
Younger abstention bars a § 1983 case over the search of plaintiff while the state criminal case is pending. Ford v. Brookins, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66694 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 19, 2019). Qualified immunity was properly denied based on the … Continue reading
CA1 again holds that IP information is third party information not governed by Carpenter
First Circuit again holds that IP information is third party information not governed by Carpenter. United States v. Morel, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 11457 (1st Cir. Apr. 19, 2019):
E.D.Mo.: CLSI warrant obtained 3½ years before Carpenter was clearly with PC
The CLSI search warrant was obtained 3½ years before Carpenter, and assuming for the sake of argument that a warrant was required. It clearly showed probable cause to get the information. United States v. Johnson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65896 … Continue reading