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- IN: Overdose call led to EMS telling police what they saw and that led to SW
- NY1: A mental health defense waives REP in the medical records about it
- MA: When a likely Franks violation comes out at trial, def gets to reopen the suppression issue
- RI: Challenge to one sentence of 8-page cell phone records SW fails; totality has to be considered
- WaPo: Subpoena bill would curtail secretive tool used to target government critics
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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. 
Category Archives: Uncategorized
CA9: Misd possession of firearm on one’s own porch doesn’t justify warrantless entry into the home
There was a fair probability that defendant seen with a handgun on his porch, not a public place under state law, violated state law, but that doesn’t give any justification to surround his house and order him out at gunpoint … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Brady, a snitch’s new information, and suppression motions
In this case, a codefendant decided to roll, and he finally provided information to the government. He was not a government investigator, and what he subsequently told the government in its debriefing about how the searches went down didn’t really … Continue reading
Today is the 45th Anniversary of the start of the weekend of Woodstock
Reason: Rise of the Super Drug Tunnels: California’s Losing Fight Against Smugglers
Reason: Rise of the Super Drug Tunnels: California’s Losing Fight Against Smugglers by Zach Weissmueller: But despite these high-visibility wins for Garcia’s team, a recent report from the California Attorney General’s office paints a picture of a California-Mexico border that’s … Continue reading
NYTimes: Sidebar: On Supreme Court, Does 9-0 Add Up to More Than 5-4?
NYTimes: Sidebar: On Supreme Court, Does 9-0 Add Up to More Than 5-4? by Adam Liptik: The Supreme Court issued a remarkable number of unanimous decisions last term, and in their public remarks the justices seemed unanimous in saying that … Continue reading
Vox: Telling white people the criminal justice system is racist makes them like it more
Vox: Telling white people the criminal justice system is racist makes them like it more by Dara Lind: A new study suggests that highlighting racism in the criminal justice system is not the answer, and in fact pushes white voters … Continue reading
CA7: Davis GFE exception applies to pre-Jardines dog sniffs
A pre-Jardines dog sniff at the door is saved by the Davis good faith exception. United States v. Gutierrez, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 14853 (7th Cir. July 29, 2014). The Eighth Circuit said the same thing the same day. Defendant … Continue reading
Law.com/Texas Lawyer: Class Action Alleges Lawyers’ Calls to Inmates Still Recorded, Visitation Option Impacts Income
Law.com/Texas Lawyer: Class Action Alleges Lawyers’ Calls to Inmates Still Recorded, Visitation Option Impacts Income by Angela Morris: “Attorneys’ incomes are reduced if they are forced to rely exclusively on visitation rather than the phone,’ the plaintiffs allege.
NYTimes: A Stronger Bill to Limit Surveillance (Editorial)
NYTimes: A Stronger Bill to Limit Surveillance (Editorial): The Senate should pass a bill that will finally put an end to the indiscriminate bulk collection of Americans’ phone records.
NYT series on legalization of marijuana, still a Fourth Amendment issue
This is not a drug advocacy blog, but so many cases involve dubious arrests for possession of marijuana and rousting people of color that this is relevant here. The New York Times started yesterday a six part series on legalization, … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: “‘Reliance on vague, conclusory allegations is insufficient’” to get a hearing on a motion to suppress
“‘Reliance on vague, conclusory allegations is insufficient’” to get a hearing on a motion to suppress. “Defendant correctly notes that the government bears the burden of justifying a warrantless search, but this does not relieve him of his burden of … Continue reading
BLT: Debating the Efficacy of NSA Surveillance Oversight
BLT: Debating the Efficacy of NSA Surveillance Oversight by Andrew Ramonas: The question of whether the oversight of the federal government’s surveillance activities is effective came to a head on Capitol Hill on Friday as former National Security Agency general … Continue reading
NC: Lifetime satellite monitoring of convicted sex offender not unreasonable
Life time satellite surveillance of a convicted sex offender was reasonably related to a valid governmental objective, and it doesn’t violate Jones (involving investigation) or substantive due process. State v. Williams, 2014 N.C. App. LEXIS 744 (July 15, 2014). The … Continue reading
CA6: After remedial orders have been entered, a warrantless entry to abate the nuisance is reasonable
After remedial orders to abate a nuisance have been entered, a warrantless entry to abate the nuisance is reasonable. Embassy Realty Invs. v. City of Cleveland, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 13256, 2014 FED App. 0506N (6th Cir. July 10, 2014):
CT: Apparent authority to consent still as valid as actual authority
It is settled that consent from a person with apparent authority to consent is as valid as from one with actual authority. Connecticut declines to depart from the general rule. State v. Buie, 2014 Conn. LEXIS 241 (July 22, 2014) … Continue reading
New Law Review Article: When Enough is Enough: Location Tracking, Mosaic Theory, and Machine Learning
When Enough is Enough: Location Tracking, Mosaic Theory, and Machine Learning, Steven M. Bellovin, Renee M. Hutchins, Tony Jebara, Sebastian Zimmeck, 8 NYU J.L. & Liberty 556 (2014). Abstract:
WaPo: How liberals can reclaim the Constitution
WaPo: How liberals can reclaim the Constitution by Jack M. Balkin: For years, conservatives have called for taking back the Constitution. In one sense, that claim is deeply ironic: Conservatives have dominated the appointments to the federal courts for a … Continue reading
MA: Smell of unburnt marijuana at a sobriety checkpoint with no signs of impairment doesn’t justify search
A sobriety checkpoint stop produced the smell of unburnt marijuana, and the vehicle was segregated for a search. Here, the search incident doctrine doesn’t apply when the defendant was never arrested. There were no signs of impairment. Commonwealth v. Craan, … Continue reading
WaPo: Manassas City police release statement on teen ‘sexting’ case: Won’t seek warrant for picture of an erection
WaPo: Manassas City police release statement on teen ‘sexting’ case by Tom Jackman: In response to The Post’s story Wednesday about a felony sexting case in Prince William County, the Manassas City police released this statement shortly after 6 p.m. … Continue reading