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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)
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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)
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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
W.D.Mo.: Unidentified tipster corroborated by hand-to-hand transactions
The unidentified tipster was corroborated by defendant’s hand-to-hand transactions during surveillance, and that was probable cause. United States v. Mangol, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130023 (W.D. Mo. May 23, 2025). Defendant sought to use the GPS information on his trailer … Continue reading
S.D.Ill.: Being a cash courier doesn’t establish standing
Giving a substantial amount of cash to a courier to take it from Arizona to Maryland doesn’t create standing. United States v. $549,860.00 in United States Currency, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131436 (S.D. Ill. July 10, 2025). Defendant’s place was … Continue reading
CA11: RS required for a prison visitor’s strip search; out of circuit authority can be considered in whether the law is clearly established
Reasonable suspicion is required for a prison visitor’s strip search. Out of circuit authority can be considered in whether the law is clearly established. Here it essentially was. Gilmore v. Ga. Dept. of Corr., 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 17209 (11th … Continue reading
Mediate: Trump’s Border Czar Sparks Firestorm of Anger By Telling Fox News ICE Can Detain Based on ‘Physical Appearance’
Mediate: Trump’s Border Czar Sparks Firestorm of Anger By Telling Fox News ICE Can Detain Based on ‘Physical Appearance’ by Alex Griffing
The Scopes trial was 100 years ago today
LA Times: When Darrow took on Bryan 100 years ago today, science got the win. Or did it? by Randall Balmer
N.D.Ga.: No REP in a prison inmate’s cell phone
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of a cell phone in prison. United States v. Brandt, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129412 (N.D. Ga. June 13, 2025). This line in defendant’s PSR leads to denial of his … Continue reading
W.D.Wis.: 4A doesn’t require filing SW and application before service
Filing a search warrant and application before it is served isn’t a constitutional requirement. [And even if it was, where’s the prejudice?] United States v. Robinson, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130063 (W.D. Wis. July 8, 2025):
IA: Video shows officers didn’t slow walk traffic stop for dog sniff
On de novo review, the officers didn’t slow walk the traffic citation to get more time to do the dog sniff. State v. Cox, 2025 Iowa App. LEXIS 567 (July 2, 2025)*:
Reclaim The Net: How Digital Convenience Becomes a Government Backdoor
Reclaim The Net: How Digital Convenience Becomes a Government Backdoor by Christina Maas (“The Supreme Court’s silence keeps 20th-century privacy rules firmly in place while 21st-century surveillance marches on.”). Well, to be frank, the third-party doctrine isn’t going anywhere as … Continue reading
CA8: Social media video of SW target shooting guns justified no-knock entry
Social media videos of a target of the warrant shooting guns viewed before obtaining the warrant justified a no-knock warrant. Davenport v. City of Little Rock, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 16540 (8th Cir. July 7, 2025). Plaintiff’s various claims, including … Continue reading
OH12: Adoption of suppression motion brief by reference on appeal is waiver
Adoption of his suppression motion brief by reference without briefing it was waiver. Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a conversation with his girlfriend in the presence of a CI. State v. Davis, 2025-Ohio-2382, 2025 Ohio App. LEXIS … Continue reading
OH5: Trial court erred in finding no standing when the state didn’t even raise it
The trial court erred in finding no standing when the state didn’t even raise it. State v. Reynolds, 2025-Ohio-2347, 2025 Ohio App. LEXIS 2332 (5th Dist. July 2, 2025). During the stop, the driver could be ordered out of the … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Heck bar has to be pled in first defensive pleading
The Heck bar is an affirmative defense that has to be pled by defendants under F.R.C.P. 8(c). Megna v. Musial, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127980 (E.D. Wis. July 7, 2025). Defendant’s driving justified his stop. State v. Craven, 2025 Wash. … Continue reading
UT: Merely possible is not sufficient for inevitable discovery to apply
Merely possible is not sufficient for inevitable discovery to apply. State v. Abonza, 2025 UT App 101, 2025 Utah App. LEXIS 102 (July 3, 2025). Based on collective knowledge, there was probable cause for defendant’s stop. Morris v. State, 2025 … Continue reading
OH: No REP in single location info entered into a phone app
Defendant’s single location information entered into a phone app that was used to set up a robbery was basic third-party information not protected by Carpenter. State v. Diaw, 2025-Ohio-2323 (July 2, 2025):
E.D.Ark.: Reacting defensively to request for consent contributed to RS
[While it was thin,] The officer had reasonable suspicion for a dog sniff, including “react[ing] defensively when asked for consent to search the Sentra by making a facial expression, flailing his arms to the side, and offering unprompted explanations as … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: USMJ recommends grant of motion to suppress; second SW to cure defects in first not proper for attenuation doctrine
The government admits that the warrant lacked particularity, but they sought to use the good faith exception to sustain a limited search. The problem there is that the person who sought the warrant didn’t search it, and he instructed the … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: No 4A right to personal service of a SW
In this 2254, petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim that defense counsel didn’t object that the search warrant was not personally served on him wasn’t a constitutional requirement. Also barred by Stone. Witkowski v. Bennett, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126262 … Continue reading