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Recent Posts
- N.D.Tex.: AUSA can summarize what the gov’t knows for SW application
- S.D.N.Y.: No right to quash SCA warrant before execution; remedies are after
- S.D.N.Y.: SW not based on mere speculation
- D.Mont.: Officers had RS for stop; it wasn’t based on the race of the suspects
- M.D.Pa.: SW for phone 19 months after alleged crimes showed PC
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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)
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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: July 2020
D.Ariz.: Nervousness alone can’t be RS
“Here, the Court finds that Trooper Amick did not have reasonable suspicion to extend the stop. Trooper Amick testified that he had asked for consent to search the vehicle because the conflicting stories by Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Diaz indicated … Continue reading
DE: Subpoena duces tecum from State Escheator was shown reasonable
A subpoena duces tecum from the State Escheator is subject to Fourth Amendment reasonableness. “The resulting legal framework for enforcing an administrative subpoena involves a shifting burden of proof. The agency has the initial burden of showing that its subpoena … Continue reading
RI: Subpoena duces tecum was for records with no REP, so 4A warrant requirement not implicated
The subpoena for records here was reasonable, and there was no reasonable expectation of privacy in them where the court could analogize the subpoena as a search. State v. Doyle, 2020 R.I. LEXIS 65 (July 8, 2020):
NJ: Ptf’s and eyewitness’s testimony ptf’s hands were over his head in act of surrender when he was shot overcame QI at summary judgment stage
“At the summary judgment stage, in deciding the issue of qualified immunity, our jurisprudence requires that the evidence be viewed in the light most favorable to Baskin. Therefore, for summary judgment purposes, we must accept as true the sworn deposition … Continue reading
NC: Pocket knife on car console not RS to search
Pocket knife on the console of a defendant’s car was not reasonable suspicion to search his person. State v. Duncan, 2020 N.C. App. LEXIS 525 (July 7, 2020). Where initial stop was valid, smell of marijuana and defendant’s furtive movements … Continue reading
D.D.C.: ShotSpotter alert and being in a high-crime area late at night was not RS
A ShotSpotter alert led to defendant’s stop in a high-crime area late at night. On the totality, there was no reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop. Therefore, his flight after the stop began didn’t end the inquiry. United States v. Carter, … Continue reading
CA2: Failure to fully articulate 4A argument in brief is waiver
“Although Plaintiff references her Fourth Amendment claims against the unidentified police officers in her list of ‘questions presented,’ she makes no argument to support those claims in her brief. See Appellant Br. 2, 6-13. We therefore view these claims as … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Automobile exception search doesn’t have to be done promptly
Where the stop and seizure of the vehicle was with probable cause, its automobile exception search could occur later. United States v. Brown, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120634 (W.D. Ky. July 9, 2020).* A private person finding defendant’s SD card … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Use of cell site simulator to capture phone numbers and not track was reasonable
Use of cell site simulator merely to capture defendant’s cell phone numbers and not to track him was reasonable because he had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his numbers. United States v. Powell, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120229 (E.D. … Continue reading
CA8: On totality, stomping ptf’s ankle and breaking it when six officers were trying to control him was covered by QI
While six officers were wrestling plaintiff, this one’s stomping plaintiff’s ankle and breaking it was on the surface unreasonable, but under all the circumstances, it was all hazy enough on the law to require qualified immunity. Shelton v. Stevens, 2020 … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: If handcuffing on RS to maintain status quo wasn’t reasonable, it doesn’t make the vehicle search unreasonable
“[W]hile waiting for the drug dog to arrive, Morphis placed Gibbs in handcuffs. It’s not clear from this record that that was justified. … But Morphis had reasonable suspicion to extend the stop to wait for the drug dog; and … Continue reading
DC: Entry on arrest warrant was limited to protective sweep, but here it was a full search
U.S. Marshals entered defendant’s home on an arrest warrant and, instead of just securing it, they succeeded in searching it, too. The search violated the Fourth Amendment and is suppressed. Green v. United States, 2020 D.C. App. LEXIS 240 (July … Continue reading
OR: Warrantless seizure of house wasn’t shown to taint SW for house
Defendant’s house was seized to get a search warrant. Defendant does not show that the search warrant was tainted by the warrantless seizure. State v. Dehong, 305 Ore. App. 325, 2020 Ore. App. LEXIS 844 (July 8, 2020).* “Here, considering … Continue reading
CA6: CSLI 7 years before Carpenter subject to GFE
Two months of CSLI seven years before Carpenter was subject to the good faith exception. United States v. Pritchard, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 21030 (6th Cir. July 7, 2020)* (a valiant try based on the circuit’s Warshak email decision). “What … Continue reading
The State: SC Chief Justice Beatty orders magistrates to stop issuing ‘no knock’ search warrants
The State: SC Chief Justice Beatty orders magistrates to stop issuing ‘no knock’ search warrants by John Monk (“State Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty late Friday afternoon ordered state judges and magistrates to stop issuing ‘no-knock’ search warrants to … Continue reading
techdirt: Reverse Warrant Used In Robbery Investigation Being Challenged As Unconstitutional
techdirt: Reverse Warrant Used In Robbery Investigation Being Challenged As Unconstitutional by Tim Cushing (“Reverse warrants are being challenged in a criminal case involving a bank robbery in Virginia. These warrants (also called ‘geofence warrants’) work in reverse, hence the … Continue reading
CA9: While a 911 call must be reliable, it must also refer to “criminal activity [that] may be afoot”
While a 911 call must be reliable, it must also refer to “criminal activity [that] may be afoot.” This satisfies both prongs. United States v. Vandergroen, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 21150 (9th Cir. July 7, 2020):
CA3: Finding suspect near bank that was just robbed generally matching description but with short sleeves in winter was RS
“With respect to the issue of reasonable suspicion, this is a close case. Defendants were not wearing all of the clothing described in the dispatch or depicted on the surveillance video, and their reaction to the police vehicle could be … Continue reading