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Recent Posts
- DE: Cell phone SW was limited by time and data sought, so it was not a general warrant
- MD: Under Bruen, mere possession of a handgun outside the home is no longer RS; Terry stop doesn’t include looking in a bag
- MO: When officers came with an arrest warrant, def’s admission he had a firearm justified the entry
- PA: Shining flashlight into hole in a shoebox was a search; there was a REP in the closed box
- CA5: Accidentally shooting the man who disarmed the shooter from a residence was not a constitutional violation
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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)
--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
D.D.C.: Vague and unsupported allegations of 4A violation during pretrial crime scene walk through denied
Defendant is a pardoned Jan. 6th defendant who had a pretrial walk through at the Capitol in October 2024. He claims the AUSA and FBI tried to read his notes in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Despite his pardon, he … Continue reading
CA1 oral argument on lobstering as heavily regulated
CNS: First Circuit unbothered by Maine’s lobster boat snooping by Thomas F. Harrison (“Because lobstering is heavily regulated, the judges seemed to think it’s OK to track the boats’ every move even when they’re used for other purposes.”)
CA8: While the driver wasn’t the owner with the suspended license, RS separately developed to continue the stop
The officer had reasonable suspicion that the owner of the vehicle had a suspended DL, but that dissipated when he saw the driver wasn’t the same gender as the owner. But, reasonable suspicion was developing the driver was under the … Continue reading
Reason: The FBI Took Her $40,000 Without Explaining Why. She Fought Back—and Lost.
Reason: The FBI Took Her $40,000 Without Explaining Why. She Fought Back—and Lost. by Billy Binion (“The twist underscores just how little accountability exists in civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize assets without charging the owner with a … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Despite officers’ not thinking there was apparent authority to consent, the consenter did have that authority
“The Court recognizes that Officer Nunez and a female officer expressed ambivalence as to whether N.H. could consent to a search when she was not the registered owner of the Camry.” Still, she had apparent authority to consent. United States … Continue reading
The Guardian: Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest
The Guardian: Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest by Clare Considine (“Video from Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio, 18, puts fresh scrutiny on the harsh tactics used to reach the Trump administration’s … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Def doesn’t get discovery of cell phone govt hasn’t decrypted
When the government seizes a cell phone under a warrant and the data is encrypted and it can’t see it, it is not in “possession” for Rule 16 discovery purposes. United States v. Mejia, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142962 (S.D. … Continue reading
E.D.Tex.: Return of property under Rule 41(g) requires more than a seizure that “might be” unreasonable
The fact property was held after seizure under a search warrant that might be invalid isn’t enough to order equitable return of property under Rule 41(g). Bingli Lin v. United States, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142181 (E.D. Tex. June 30, … Continue reading
The Intercept: Border Patrol Wants Advanced AI to Spy on American Cities: Even through walls
The Intercept: Border Patrol Wants Advanced AI to Spy on American Cities by Sam Biddle (“A U.S. Border Patrol ‘Industry Day’ deck also asks for drones, seismic sensors, and tech that can see through walls.”) Really. Never read Kyllo (2001)?
CA6: Govt. waived PC argument, but GFE carries the day
The government waived reliance on probable cause in the district court, but its good faith exception was presented and supports the search. United States v. Scales, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 18324 (6th Cir. July 21, 2025).* The magistrate’s R&R finding … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Skeletal motion to suppress denied on its face
Skeletal motion to suppress without facts or law denied. United States v. Matar, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141206 (W.D.N.Y. June 25, 2025):
CA8: A state police officer, a part of a federal task force, could lie to cause an arrest to protect a federal witness
“We have decided this question before: ‘whether a St. Paul police officer acted under color of state law when she allegedly lied to protect a federal witness while serving on a federal task force.’ Yassin v. Weyker, 39 F.4th 1086, … Continue reading
WaPo: DNA obtained by ruse by TSA
WaPo: Interrogating a cold-case killer: ‘Honey, your DNA was in the crime scene’ (“Police videos show Eugene Gligor being arrested and questioned for the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer in Chevy Chase, Md.”) His DNA was captured at Dulles Airport … Continue reading
VA: Collective knowledge between state and federal officers for arrest
There was probable cause by collective knowledge for defendant’s arrest at Dulles airport where Virginia police asked Homeland Security to make the arrest. Lewis v. Commonwealth, 2025 Va. App. LEXIS 412 (July 22, 2025) (unpublished).* Appellant’s Fourth Amendment claim was … Continue reading
TX4: Reformed affidavit in Franks challenge still had PC
Assuming defendant’s Franks argument was valid, he got a hearing, a paragraph of the affidavit was deleted, and probable cause still remained. Affirmed. Del Toro v. State, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 5255 (Tex. App. – San Antonio July 23, 2025).* … Continue reading
OH9: Grant of motion to suppress off bodycam video reversed, officer’s testimony not inconsistent
The granting of the motion to suppress is reversed as not based on competent or credible evidence. The bodycam doesn’t fully support the officer’s testimony there were furtive movements before he got up to the driver’s window, but the bodycam … Continue reading
Law Review: Encryption Backdoors and the Fourth Amendment
Robert M. White, Encryption Backdoors and the Fourth Amendment, 108 Marq. L. Rev. 465 (2024). Abstract:
CA9: Untimely post-trial motion to suppress not even considered on appeal
“Ellis also argues that the police officers’ search of his rental car resulted from an unconstitutionally prolonged traffic stop and was unsupported by probable cause. He pressed this claim in a post-trial motion that was untimely under Federal Rule of … Continue reading