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Recent Posts
- 404 Media: Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People
- 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.
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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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"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
CA8: Shot fired call from house resulted in protective sweep when door was answered by man matching description
Officers responding to a call about a shot fired from a window found a man answering the door matching the 911 description. A protective sweep was thus permissible. Defendant also consented to the entry. United States v. Williams, 2023 U.S. … Continue reading
WaPo: 4A fourth most cited amendment
Department of Data, Washington Post: The Fourth Amendment (254,471) is the fourth most cited constitutional amendment in judicial opinions after the Fourteenth (501,271), Fifth (306,821), and Sixth (288,832) Amendments per LexisNexis. Judges have cited the Fourteenth Amendment half a million … Continue reading
OR: Third-party business records not to be treated the same as electronic records as in Carpenter
A third-party company’s records aren’t as detailed as electronic records (as in Carpenter), and they are not subject to the same standards for a warrant. State v. Hargrove, 327 Ore. App. 437 (Aug. 16, 2023) (at least not yet and … Continue reading
D.Md.: Instagram SW was valid by GFE despite weak PC, but it was excessively searched
“The Instagram Motion [to suppress] will be granted in part. Although the probable cause to search Rivers’ Instagram account was weak, the Leon good faith exception applies and the evidence will therefore not be suppressed on the basis of a … Continue reading
CA5: Arrest on curtilage was subject to questions of fact
Plaintiff raised questions of fact and law as to the officer’s authority to arrest him in his front yard on the curtilage. Summary judgment denied on the merits, but remanded for further qualified immunity analysis. Sauceda v. City of San … Continue reading
MO: Failure to allow DUI suspect to contact lawyer before BAC test doesn’t require suppression
The state’s statutory failure to allow defendant to contact a lawyer before a BAC test doesn’t require suppression of the BAC test. Dunbar v. Dir. of Revenue, 2023 Mo. App. LEXIS 582 (Aug. 15, 2023). “Movant provides no facts or … Continue reading
ID: Pleading only state constitution waived 4A
Defendant’s pleading only the state constitution waived the Fourth Amendment claim. State v. Bell, 2023 Ida. LEXIS 95 (Aug. 15, 2023). Defendant complained trial counsel was ineffective for not challenging a search of house that was allegedly burglarized and defendant’s … Continue reading
CA5: Riley does not apply to border searches of cell phones
The search of defendant’s cell phone at the border was reasonable. The court will not apply Riley to border searches. Malik v. United States Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 21307 (5th Cir. Aug. 15, 2023). “The undersigned … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Tracking warrant that provided for tracking but not installation was saved by GFE
The tracking warrant provided for tracking of the car, but did not mention installing the tracker. The court finds the good faith exception applies. United States v. Gonzalez, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142057 (D.Minn. Aug. 15, 2023). There was probable … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: Pepper spray use under the circumstances was reasonable
“Anthony argues that Gottschalk used excessive force when he sprayed him with OC spray, which the court now refers to as pepper spray. Applying the Graham factors and considering the totality of the circumstances, the court concludes that a reasonable … Continue reading
D.Mass.: No standing shown for anticipatory warrant
Defendant showed no standing to contest this anticipatory warrant for mailed drugs. United States v. Fontanez, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141256 (D.Mass. Aug. 11, 2023).* Plaintiff’s pro se case against the police department that searched and arrested was four years … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Cell phone passcode given by consent, but Cellebrite can open phone anyway
Defendant consented to giving up the passcode to his phone. The court notes in n.2 that Cellebrite can crack the passcodes. United States v. Frey, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141180 n.2 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 14, 2023). Defendant was reasonably denied … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: Broad challenges to how ptf was investigated all barred by Heck
“Many of Plaintiff’s alleged violations attack the procedures used to investigate and charge him, the evidence used to convict him, as well as the constitutionality of the first-degree murder statute under which he was convicted. Success on some of these … Continue reading
TN: Typo of street number of location of car to be searched could be overlooked when the car was still parked
Defendant was a suspect in a vehicular homicide. Her car with pedestrian damage was found parked in the driveway of her house at 207 Port Drive in Hamilton County. There was a typo on the street number despite the warrant … Continue reading
“There is no ‘inadvertent negligence’ exception to [Stone v.] Powell.
“More to the point, however, is the irrelevance of any officer negligence in this habeas corpus case. Stone v. Powell bars habeas corpus consideration of Fourth Amendment claims as a basis for habeas relief. There is no ‘inadvertent negligence’ exception … Continue reading
NY4: No limitation in cell phone search was included, and it was thus not particular
The cell phone warrant sought all information on it about a 48 hour period without limitation, and it was vague and overbroad. “The warrant contained no language incorporating any other documents or facts. Significantly, the search of the phone was … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Penn State’s Covid testing was reasonable under the 4A
The University’s Covid-19 testing does not violate the Fourth Amendment. Roman Cath. Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 141 S. Ct. 63, 67, 208 L. Ed. 2d 206 (2020) (“Stemming the spread of COVID-19 is a compelling interest.”); Klaassen v. Trs. … Continue reading