Archives
-
Recent Posts
- OH1: SW for residence justified seizure of text messages about drug transactions received during execution of warrant
- Cal.2: CA OSHA had the authority to subpoena records over a workplace death, but this one was overbroad
- CA6: ChatGPT’s opinion that evidence was “newly discovered” for a successor habeas is wrong
- N.D.Cal.: Tribe’s suit over overbroad SW can proceed
- DE: Warrantless entry in DUI case unreasonable
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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)
-
“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
Three on consent from 7/20
Police responded to a shots fired call. The bodycam video shows that there was consent for entry into the home, albeit granted reluctantly. (Based on the factual recitation, it was likely a warrantless entry could have occurred because there was … Continue reading
OH5: Both patdowns without RS
Defendant’s first minute-long patdown was unreasonable, but produced nothing. There was no separate reasonable suspicion for the second one. State v. Barcus, 2022-Ohio-2491, 2022 Ohio App. LEXIS 2355 (5th Dist. July 20, 2022). Police went to defendant’s house on a … Continue reading
AP: Lawsuit: Chicago police misused ShotSpotter in murder case
AP: Lawsuit: Chicago police misused ShotSpotter in murder case by Garance Burke & Michael Tarm (“A federal lawsuit filed Thursday alleges Chicago police misused ‘unreliable’ gunshot detection technology and failed to pursue other leads in investigating a grandfather from the … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: Govt’s motion to reopen suppression hearing after R&R is granted
The government didn’t like the R&R so it moved to put on additional evidence before the USMJ. Granted. “Therefore, in light of the Court’s ‘responsibility to make an informed decision’ on Wright’s suppression motion, Khan, 2018 WL 2214813, at *2, … Continue reading
MS: Minor errors in paperwork didn’t obscure a thing and didn’t prejudice def
Minor errors in the paperwork for the warrant were not prejudicial to defendant. There was no challenge to probable cause, and the papers as a whole show the warrant timely executed after issuance. Jenkins v. State, 2022 Miss. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA11: Absolute prosecutorial immunity doesn’t apply to failure to recall a material witness warrant leading to arrest
Absolute prosecutorial immunity does not apply to failure to recall a material witness warrant that caused a voluntary witness to be arrested later. Kassa v. Fulton Cty., Ga., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 19762 (11th Cir. July 18, 2022). There was … Continue reading
CA5: Being handcuffed during traffic stop for officer safety wasn’t “custody” for Miranda purposes
Defendant was handcuffed during a traffic stop for officer safety, and the officer’s on the street questions were not custodial for Miranda purposes. United States v. Coulter, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 19751 (5th Cir. July 18, 2022). This protective sweep … Continue reading
CA4: Def’s Facebook post and demeanor justified stop-and-frisk
Defendant’s Facebook post and his past supported reasonable suspicion for his stop and frisk of his fanny pack at a fair. He was a known member of a violent gang with a felony conviction, his house had been recently shot … Continue reading
CA7: Stop-and-frisk at gunpoint was reasonable
Defendant’s actions justified a stop and frisk at gunpoint, and it was still a mere detention and not an arrest. United States v. Olson, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 19744 (7th Cir. July 18, 2022):
IL: Arrest on a CPD “investigative alert” unreasonable
The use of an CPD “investigative alert” to arrest defendant was unreasonable and a violation of the Fourth Amendment (but harmless on the totality). People v. Smith, 2022 IL App (1st) 190691, 2022 Ill. App. LEXIS 329 (July 18, 2022). … Continue reading
D.Md.: Cell phone dump on a SW wasn’t shown to be overbroad
A cell phone dump after a search warrant wasn’t necessarily overbroad, and didn’t show it. “More particularity was impractical, and was not required.” United States v. Nelson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125994 (D. Md. July 15, 2022). Officers who used … Continue reading
DE: People inside isn’t exigency for nighttime SW
The justification for a nighttime search warrant was insufficient as a matter of law. The mere presence of people in the house is not exigency. State v. Harrison, 2022 Del. Super. LEXIS 302 (July 14, 2022). The USMJ found defendant … Continue reading
CO: Recreational MJ created privacy interest in cars from dog sniff for MJ
The state constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana created a privacy interest in one’s car from a dog sniff for drugs on only reasonable suspicion. The good faith exception does not apply. People v. Lopez, 2022 COA 70M, 2022 Colo. App. … Continue reading
D.N.M.: No return of seized phone of election denier lawyer
Plaintiff is a self-described “constitutional lawyer,” and his claim the search warrant for phone wasn’t particular enough or that he had a right to see the warrant to point out defects to the officer before execution is denied. It was; … Continue reading
Bloomberg: ACLU Blasts Homeland Security Agency for Use of Location Data
Bloomberg: ACLU Blasts Homeland Security Agency for Use of Location Data by Ellen M. Gilmer (“Civil liberties advocates are accusing the Department of Homeland Security of skirting the Fourth Amendment by buying access to people’s cellphone location data.”)
John Erlichman, President Nixon’s Domestic Policy Advisor:
The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or … Continue reading
CA6: No 4A requirement to file SW before execution
No case says that failure to file a search warrant before it is executed violates the Fourth Amendment (or state law, not that state law matters in federal court). United States v. Dixon, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 19457 (6th Cir. … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Challenge of CI’s ID of def in 4A suppression hearing not the remedy; that’s a trial question
Defendant seeks suppression of the CI’s identification of him within the search warrant process, which the court declines to do. Due process issues with identification are trial issues, not Fourth Amendment motion to suppress issues. “Either remedy, exclusion of the … Continue reading
stopspying.org: ShotSpotter and the Misfires of Gunshot Detection Technology
stopspying.org: ShotSpotter and the Misfires of Gunshot Detection Technology by Helen Wesley-Brown, Anna Sipek, Katie Buoymaster, Juilee Shivalkar, Will Owen & Eleni Manis:
NYLJ: Commentary: The Constitution and the ‘Right to Privacy’
NYLJ: Commentary: The Constitution and the ‘Right to Privacy‘ (“In overruling ‘Roe’ and ‘Casey’, the new majority in the Supreme Court holds that there is no Constitutional ‘right to privacy.’”)