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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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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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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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)
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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: August 2020
D.S.C.: Officers weren’t familiar with inventory policy and didn’t follow it; suppressed
There was an inventory policy, but the police were unfamiliar with it and didn’t follow it. “[T]he Court finds that the inventory search of Defendant’s vehicle by the Andrews Police Department was not conducted pursuant to any specific criteria, much … Continue reading
KS: Inquiry to resolve an alleged emergency was reasonable, but extending detention to check warrants was unreasonable even under Strieff
Officers extending a safety check once the person was found to be fine just to see if there were warrants on the person went beyond the basis for the detention and was unreasonable. When the suspected emergency was resolved, the … Continue reading
CA6: Handcuffing too tight overcame QI
Plaintiff stated a claim that overcame qualified immunity that she was handcuffed too tight causing injury. Ouza v. City of Dearborn Heights, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24679 (6th Cir. Aug. 5, 2020).* 2255 petitioner’s Fourth Amendment claim is barred by … Continue reading
AK: Omission was maybe reckless but PC on the remainder
The officer’s omission of the CI’s criminal charges from the affidavit for the search warrant was reckless at worst, but the totality of the affidavit showed the CI’s potential motives for providing information. Moreover, there was probable cause even without … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Officer had something at least close to RS to investigate def as a probation violator and there was no bad faith or flagrantly unreasonable action
If the officer didn’t have reasonable suspicion defendant was a probation violator, he had something really close to it. Also, nothing about the officer’s investigation was flagrant or in bad faith. United States v. Galliher, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140901 … Continue reading
CA11: Duplex driveway here wasn’t curtilage
The district court did not err in finding defendant’s driveway of a duplex was not curtilage under the Dunn factors in light of Collins. United States v. Stephen, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24803 (11th Cir. Aug. 6, 2020):
CA8: Ptf’s takedown was reasonable for his not responding to commands
Plaintiff was taken down because he didn’t properly respond to commands, and he suffered facial injuries. He was, however, so intoxicated and couldn’t remember what happened. He was also Tased. It was all reasonable based on what the officer was … Continue reading
Massachusetts holds long term pole camera surveillance of one’s home can violate REP and state constitution
Long term surveillance of defendant’s homes with pole cameras wasn’t a Fourth Amendment violation but it could violate the Massachusetts Constitution. Two defendants show a reasonable expectation of privacy under a “mosaic theory” which has been recognized in Massachusetts. Remanded … Continue reading
CA10: Parolee’s § 1983 claim he was wrongfully arrested on parole doesn’t state a claim because he’s always “in custody”
Plaintiff’s claim that he was unreasonably arrested for a parole violation before actually getting on parole is rejected because a parolee is still in custody no matter what. “Similarly, there is no authority to support Mr. Neilsen’s argument that an … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Six week delay between PC of one drug possession made SW stale; no GFE here
The six week delay between the probable cause and the issuance of the search warrant for one drug possession was stale, and no reasonable officer could have concluded there was. Therefore, the good faith exception doesn’t apply. United States v. … Continue reading
HPPR: Class Action Suit Over Recorded Calls At Leavenworth Prison Settles For $3.7 Million
HPPR: Class Action Suit Over Recorded Calls At Leavenworth Prison Settles For $3.7 Million by Dan Margolies:
NM: Calls to murder victim’s cell phone just before murder was PC to get CSLI on the phone
A shooting victim made and received cell phone calls to his phone and the calls were not in the contacts list 30 minutes before the victim was found dead. This was probable cause for data about that caller including the … Continue reading
S.D.Miss.: QI has to be applied but it should be overruled (updated)
Plaintiff’s claim that he was wrongfully stopped and searched, finding nothing, and had his newly acquired car torn apart on the side of the road still led to the officer getting qualified immunity. This case is an historical and practical … Continue reading
TX14: There has to be a fact dispute to get an art. 38.23(a) jury instruction on legality of search
“‘To raise a disputed fact issue warranting an article 38.23(a) jury instruction, there must be some affirmative evidence that puts the existence of that fact into question.’ Madden, 242 S.W.3d at 513. In other words, a cross examiner cannot create … Continue reading
Reason: Grand Jury Indictments Paint a Picture of Deadly Deceit in Houston Narcotics Division
Reason: Grand Jury Indictments Paint a Picture of Deadly Deceit in Houston Narcotics Division by Jacob Sullum (“The charges, which grew out of a lethal 2019 raid based on a fraudulent search warrant affidavit, suggest that cops routinely built their … Continue reading
CA1: Inventory was shown to be investigative; suppression affirmed
“All in all, it seems inescapable that the officers seized Del Rosario’s car so that they could search it for evidence of a crime, and that they later sought to justify the search by invoking the community-caretaking exception. And while … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: USMJ’s credibility determination is entitled to deference
While review of the R&R is de novo, the USMJ’s credibility determination on a motion to suppress is still entitled to deference. United States v. Angulo-Gomez, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137199 (W.D. N.Y. Aug. 3, 2020). The government argued that … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Denial of medical care after arrest can be a 4A violation, but this doesn’t measure up
“To the extent Plaintiff is asserting a denial of medical care after his arrest, but before he arrived at the detention facility, district courts within the Ninth Circuit have held that law enforcement officers are required to provide objectively reasonable … Continue reading
CA3: Suspended DL arrest was valid despite fact it was later dismissed in state court
Defendant’s arrest for driving on a suspended license was valid and with probable cause despite the fact he later got the charge dismissed. Bahgat v. Twp. of E. Brunswick, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24326 (3d Cir. Aug. 3, 2020). Officers … Continue reading
OH3: Collins v. Virginia not retroactive on post-conviction relief
Defendant’s claim that Collins v. Virginia applied on post-conviction is denied. The search was two years before Collins was decided, and trial and appeal were over by then. It isn’t retroactive to final cases. State v. Parsons, 2020-Ohio-3917, 2020 Ohio … Continue reading