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- D.R.I.: Defense attorney’s affidavit for Franks motion was insufficient for lack of personal knowledge
- Philadelphia Inquirer: Two Philadelphia police officers stopped hundreds of Black men on the street. Lawyers say the stops were illegal and racially biased.
- Reason: Iowa Man Seen in Viral Body Camera Footage Wins $105,000 Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit
- Wired: Wrongful Arrest Exposes Failures in One of the Oldest Police Face-Recognition Tools in the US
- W.D.Mo.: ALPR information helped support RS
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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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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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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"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. 
Author Archives: Hall
CT: Pretrial detainees still have no REP in jail calls
There is no constitutional distinction between pretrial detainees and convicts in a jail for the reasonable expectation of privacy in telephone calls on a jail line phone they knew was recorded. State v. Bember, 2024 Conn. LEXIS 153 (June 25, … Continue reading
CA3: Getting ptf’s personal information from third parties after he was seen open carrying was not 2A or 4A violation
Plaintiff was seen open carrying on a bicycle, and the officer attempted to stop him. The officer later got information on plaintiff from a store he’d been in. None of that violated the Second or Fourth Amendment. Glover v. Fidaannd, … Continue reading
CA11: Cotenant’s knowledge of their cotenant being on probation enough to search them, too
“The Supreme Court has said that a warrantless search of a probationer’s home, supported by reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and authorized by a probation condition, is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. See United States v. Knights, 534 U.S. 112, … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Questions about drugs without RS unreasonably extended stop
The officer’s questions about drugs during the mission of a routine traffic stop unreasonably extended the stop, and the dog sniff is suppressed. United States v. Chavez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110229 (N.D. Ga. June 3, 2024). Defendant rented an … Continue reading
S.D.Miss.: Drug SW permitted search of a safe even though not specified
This drug search warrant didn’t mention a safe, but that was a place where they could be found, so the search was proper. Also, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Manning, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109676 (S.D. Miss. … Continue reading
CA7: Detention of a package for a day to get SW was reasonable
Detention of a package for a day to get a search warrant was a reasonable time. United States v. Black, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 14944 (7th Cir. June 20, 2024). “‘The Constitution does not guarantee that only the guilty will … Continue reading
NH: Grounds to sustain a search must be raised before motion to reconsider
Where the state is relying on the “new crime” exception to the exclusionary rule, it needs to raise it before a motion to reconsider or it’s waived. State v. Rousseau, 2024 N.H. LEXIS 125 (June 18, 2024). Defendant’s criminal history … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Failure to challenge lack of announcement in federal court was futile and not ineffective assistance
“First, Mr. Smith cannot establish prejudice from his attorney failing to raise the alleged violation of the knock-and-announce requirement as ‘the exclusionary rule does not apply to evidence discovered in the ensuing search.’ United States v. Acosta, 502 F.3d 54, … Continue reading
VA: 4A exclusionary rule does not apply in a civil zoning case
The Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule does not apply in a civil zoning case. Bd. of Supervisors of Fairfax Cty. v. Leach-Lewis, 2024 Va. LEXIS 38 (June 20, 2024). Surveillance of him at a stash house and other information provided probable … Continue reading
MT: Entry onto def’s rural land past “Posted” and “No Trespassing” signs to issue a traffic citation was unreasonable
Entry onto defendant’s rural land past “Posted” and “No Trespassing” signs to issue a traffic citation was unreasonable. Montanans have a heightened expectation of privacy in their posted rural lands. State v. Lanchantin, 2024 MT 129 (June 18, 2024). Defendant’s … Continue reading
WI: Community caretaking stop couldn’t be expanded without RS
Where defendant was stopped under the community caretaking function, expanding the stop without further justification was unreasonable. Here, it was because the officer thought defendant may have been driving while sleepy, but the stop was extended. State v. Wiskowski, 2024 … Continue reading
NYLJ: Geofencing and Individualized Suspicion
NYLJ: Geofencing and Individualized Suspicion (June 24, 2024)
WaPo: Law enforcement is spying on thousands of Americans’ mail, records show
WaPo: Law enforcement is spying on thousands of Americans’ mail, records show by Drew Harwell (“The Postal Service approves thousands of requests every year from police officers and federal agents seeking information from Americans’ letters and packages.”) This is hardly … Continue reading
CA5: Exigency is measured objectively, not subjectively
“Borden argues the officers’ actions indicate they did not actually think a medical emergency existed, but their subjective beliefs are irrelevant. See Toussaint, 838 F.3d at 509. Given the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable view of the evidence supports … Continue reading
N.Mar.Isl.: DNA order in probate case complied with 4A
There was sufficient justification for the court to order a DNA test in a probate matter, and the order complied with the Fourth Amendment. In re Est. of Kapileo, 2024 N. Mar. I. LEXIS 4 (Superior Ct. June 18, 2024). … Continue reading
CO: When IP address is the PC for a building, SW permits search of whole building
“This case concerns whether a search for Internet-related evidence that extended to a previously unknown basement apartment was reasonable, even though the apartment was not specified in the warrant. The supreme court holds that 1) the warrant’s reference to the … Continue reading
SCOTUS: ““The presence of probable cause for one charge in a criminal proceeding does not categorically defeat a Fourth Amendment malicious-prosecution claim relating to another, baseless charge.”
“The presence of probable cause for one charge in a criminal proceeding does not categorically defeat a Fourth Amendment malicious-prosecution claim relating to another, baseless charge. The parties, and the United States as amicus curiae, all agree with this conclusion, … Continue reading
D.P.R.: PR nighttime search rules irrelevant in federal court
Puerto Rico cases on nighttime search aren’t relevant in federal court. United States v. Pastrana-Román, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 238527 (D.P.R. March 9, 2023),* adopted, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106442 (D.P.R. May 17, 2024).* Defendant didn’t show good cause for … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Defendant succeeds in getting hearing on a Franks challenge
Defendant succeeds in getting hearing on a Franks challenge, making the “substantial preliminary showing.” United States v. Ardis, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106369 (N.D. Cal. June 14, 2024)*: However, the Court does find that defendant has made a substantial preliminary … Continue reading