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- Volokh: Do Fourth Amendment Protections Change When Property Is Moved?
- M.D.Pa.: Def was neither shipper nor recipient of USPS parcel, so he had no standing in it
- WI: Obtaining def’s DNA by ruse wasn’t an illegal search
- WaPo: Apple, Google and Venmo fight new U.S. plan to monitor payment apps
- CA4: Tracking order using cell site simulator with PC was reasonable
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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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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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) -
“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: October 2019
E.D.Wis.: “the issue is not whether the affiant omitted information the issuing judge may have found relevant; rather, the focus is on the affiant’s state of mind.”
“As indicated, however, the issue is not whether the affiant omitted information the issuing judge may have found relevant; rather, the focus is on the affiant’s state of mind. United States v. Jones, 208 F.3d 603, 607 (7th Cir. 2000). … Continue reading
OK: Officer’s excuse for extending the stop was pretext and violated Rodriguez
The officer’s claim that defendant’s log book wasn’t up to date was a mere pretext and subterfuge to unreasonably continue the stop in violation of Rodriguez. State v. Morgan, 2019 OK CR 26, 2019 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 26 (Oct. … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Stop of one suspect created exigency that occupants might destroy evidence; entry justified
The stop of one suspect created exigent circumstances for entry into the premises to freeze it until a warrant could be obtained. The police reasonably feared that occupants would learn of the stop and destroy evidence. On entry, there was … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Criminal acts on premises is not a waiver of a REP in it
Defendant did not own the premises searched, but he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in it because of his connection to it. Also, criminal acts on the premises is not a waiver of a reasonable expectation of privacy. Minnesota … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Std of review of PC for a warrant is not de novo
The standard of review of probable cause for a search warrant is not de novo—it’s whether there is a substantial basis for believing that evidence would be found. Here, “Although some of the information lacked detail, the volume and corroboration … Continue reading
W.D.Tenn.: Putting a wildlife camera on ptf’s open fields wasn’t a violation of the 4A
Officers putting a wildlife camera on plaintiff’s open fields wasn’t a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Hollingsworth v. Tenn. Wildlife Res. Agency, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181311 (W.D. Tenn. Oct. 21, 2019):
MA well explains the totality of circumstances test applied to police-citizen contacts
Massachusetts well explains the totality of circumstances test applied to what a civilian would find an inherently coercive police citizen contact but the courts hardly ever do. Commonwealth v. Matta, 2019 Mass. LEXIS 582 (Oct. 21, 2019):
GA: Retrieval of data from airbag control module after car wreck was search requiring warrant
Warrantless retrieval of data from the airbag control module (ACM) from a vehicle after a car crash was a search that required a warrant. Mobley v. State, 2019 Ga. LEXIS 694 (Oct. 21, 2019).
M.D.Pa.: Despite appearance building was multi-unit, SW was still particular because it alleged he was in control
The search warrant was sufficiently particular despite there being more than one entrance to the building and the fact there were multiple electric boxes outside. Based on what the officers knew, it was either one or all under his control. … Continue reading
NYTimes: Opinion: Why We Must Ban Facial Recognition Software Now
NYTimes: Opinion: Why We Must Ban Facial Recognition Software Now by Evan Selinger and Woodrow Hartzog (“The benefits do not come close to outweighing the risks.”) Daily Beast: Border Agents Could Get Bodycams With Facial Recognition Technology by Blake Montgomery … Continue reading
NYTimes: Woman Who Said Officer Removed Her Tampon Will Receive $205,000
NYTimes: Woman Who Said Officer Removed Her Tampon Will Receive $205,000 by Isabella Kwai (“San Antonio approved the payout to Natalie Simms, 40, who said in a lawsuit that the officer violated her rights during a cavity search on the … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Def who came to motel room to “turn up, smoke, and chill” and to examine a firearm he was considering buying didn’t have standing
“Penn stated that his purpose in coming to the room was to ‘turn up, smoke, and chill’ and to examine a firearm he was considering purchasing.” He said he napped there. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Def was not an overnight guest, but his connection to the property was substantial, he had a key, and he could come and go at will, so that’s sufficient
On the spectrum of standing from overnight guest to somebody with minimal connection to the premises, defendant was not an overnight guest, but he had a key and pretty much free reign over the premises. The court concludes he had … Continue reading
CA11: Public safety exception permitted entry of hotel room on PC to neutralize a firearm
Defense counsel’s failure to object to the search of his hotel room wasn’t prejudicial because inevitable discovery applied. He was accused of brandishing a gun shortly before, and the gun hadn’t been found. Officers had probable cause to get a … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Arrest warrants don’t grow stale like SWs
The officer had probable cause to arrest defendant and conduct a search incident to arrest. Thus, the question of probation search is moot. The passage of time (here a little over two months) between knowledge of the arrest warrant and … Continue reading
CO: Traffic stop alone isn’t a seizure of the passenger under Brendlin unless more happens
“Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249, 263, 127 S. Ct. 2400, 168 L. Ed. 2d 132 (2007), abrogated only the holding in People v. Fines, 127 P.3d 79, 81 (Colo. 2006), that passengers in a lawfully stopped vehicle are not … Continue reading