Archives
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Recent Posts
- Cal.1: Entry by robot, drone, tear gas, and flash bang was with PC after def refused to come out on a SW and AW
- CA8: Def’s connection to property searched was so tenuous he had no standing; no one claimed to know him
- D.Mass.: Inventory valid despite there being no impoundment policy
- CA6: The smell of burnt MJ in a car is still PC for driving under influence even where personal possession is legal.
- CA2: Failure to read a SW isn’t a 4A violation without overseizure
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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)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (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
D.Neb.: Open container violation justifies a search of the passenger compartment
An open container violation justifies a search of the passenger compartment. United States v. Smith, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192108 (D. Neb. Oct. 24, 2023). The warrant affidavit’s discussion of the silver truck was a reasonable inference and not a … Continue reading
N.D.N.Y.: No REP in def’s social media accounts holding child porn
In a child porn case, defendant can’t show a reasonable expectation of privacy in images in his social media account. “For example, Defendant has not attested as to how he used the social media accounts, what if any privacy settings … Continue reading
NY3: Motion to suppress is an adequate remedy at law, not a writ of prohibition
Defendant sought prohibition to prevent his prosecution because of an illegal search. He has an adequate remedy in a motion to suppress. Denied. Matter of Rodriguez v. Hobbs, 2023 NY Slip Op 05433,2023 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5399 (3d Dept. … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: 4A does not require gun seen in protective sweep be immediately seized; SW was obtained
If officers saw defendant’s .22 during a protective sweep, the Fourth Amendment doesn’t require that it be seized immediately. It can be seized during execution of the later issued search warrant. A .22 is not a weapon of choice for … Continue reading
Reason: Government Misuse of Data Rightly Worries Americans
Reason: Government Misuse of Data Rightly Worries Americans by J.D. Tuccille (“Federal agencies frequently buy their way around the Fourth Amendment.”) But not Congress.
D.D.C.: Telling def the SW for his phone required his passcode was unreasonable because it didn’t
Defendant was in U.S. diplomatic service in Mexico, and he was accused of sex with drugged women there. Proof was ultimately found on his phone with a search warrant on his return to the U.S. Officers returned to his hotel … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Def put drugs in a confederate’s car, and he had no standing despite being the target of the search
Defendant put drugs in bags in the car of a confederate in the crime. When the car was searched, he didn’t have standing, even though he was admittedly the target of the search and not in possession. United States v. … Continue reading
Real Clear Policy: Just the Facts on ‘Geofencing’
Real Clear Policy: Just the Facts on ‘Geofencing’ by Maggie MacFarland Phillips (“As worshippers gathered at the Calvary Chapel in 2020, they were being watched from above. [¶] Satellites were locking in on cell phones owned by members of the … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: No justification shown for geolocation data of def’s phone
The affidavit for geolocation data about defendant’s phone showed no nexus to crime. Merely having a cell phone on you at the time of a crime doesn’t provide justification. United States v. Cable, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190357 (N.D. Ga. … Continue reading
NY: Inventory policies don’t have to be in writing to be reasonable
“There is no requirement that an inventory search protocol be written …, and courts will not ‘micromanage the procedures used to search properly impounded cars’ … ‘[R]easonable police regulations relating to inventory procedures administered in good faith satisfy the Fourth … Continue reading
techdirt: How The Courts Have Made It Easier For Cops To Steal From Citizens
techdirt: How The Courts Have Made It Easier For Cops To Steal From Citizens by Tim Cushing (“It’s always been easy for cops to take stuff from people. Civil asset forfeiture allows law enforcement to bypass most of the Constitution … Continue reading
TN: Trial court erred in deciding no standing where state didn’t argue that
The trial court decided the suppression issue on lack of standing when the state conceded standing and argued the merits of the search. Reversed for another suppression hearing. State v. Richards, 2023 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 430 (Oct. 23, 2023). … Continue reading
CA6: State issuing magistrate’s failure to transcribe supplemental information for PC was not enough to suppress
The affidavit and supplementing testimony provided substantial probable cause for issuance of the warrant. State law requires any testimony supplementing a search warrant affidavit be preserved and transcribed. The state issuing magistrate failed. The officer, however, acted in good faith, … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: That state arrest warrant was unsigned is not a 4A violation
A violation of state law on arrest warrant papers doesn’t per se make a Fourth Amendment violation. “There is no Fourth Amendment requirement that a state criminal complaint for an arrest warrant be signed, or even that the warrant itself … Continue reading
IL: In this forfeiture seizure, the car could not be inventoried; contents were to be returned to the owner
Officers attempted a stop of a vehicle potentially involved in an earlier occurrence. Instead of stopping, the driver fled from the stop in the car. Instead of pursuing, officers had the LPN and went to where it was registered, and … Continue reading
Bitcoin.com: Report Exposes Warrantless Cash Searches at Atlanta Airport
Bitcoin.com: Report Exposes Warrantless Cash Searches at Atlanta Airport by Jamie Redman (“In a startling investigation report, Atlanta News First uncovered the concerning practices of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force officers. At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, DEA … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Arrested target of cell phone SW has common law right of access to affidavit and SW
The target’s motion to unseal the search warrant affidavit for his cell phone is granted. There is a common law right of access, and the First Amendment right of access does not even have to be decided. The government’s only … Continue reading