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- CA6: State officer’s arrest for violation of federal MJ law likely wouldn’t violate 4A
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- VI: Smell of MJ no longer PC in VI since legalization
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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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: Good faith exception
CA1: Voluntary act after unreasonable stop made evidence admissible
There was no reasonable suspicion for defendant’s seizure on the totality. But, “Sierra-Ayala’s intervening volitional act, in the absence of exploitative behavior by López-Maysonet, renders the discovery of the drugs sufficiently attenuated so as to dissipate the taint of the … Continue reading
NJ: Refusal of a frisk without RS does not add to RS
There was no reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop. People who live in a “high crime area” do not have lesser constitutional protection. The facts here just didn’t support a frisk, and he had a right to refuse one, and that … Continue reading
PA: No REP in drug prescription database
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy nor HIPAA privacy in a drug prescription database. Commonwealth v. McFarland, 2022 PA Super 116, 2022 Pa. Super. LEXIS 288 (June 29, 2022). Defendant’s Fourth Amendment claim was litigated before trial and on … Continue reading
WY: Pending drug case is not RS, but it is “a piece of the puzzle”
The collective knowledge of two officers justified this stop. One defendant’s pending drug case was not reasonable suspicion itself, but it was “a piece of the puzzle.” Guandong v. State, 2022 WY 83, 2022 Wyo. LEXIS 83 (June 28, 2022). … Continue reading
CA3: Not plain error to fail to exclude potential prejudicial testimony about risk of violence in execution of SW
Testimony about how a search warrant was executed as it was could have prejudiced defendant by revealing the government thought he was violent before arrest. It was not, however, plain error on this record without an objection. United States v. … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: PC so lacking, “this is a no-brainer”
“The Court finds that the search warrant affidavit comes nowhere near to establishing probable cause for the search of the cell phone. Simply put, this is a no-brainer. In fact, the government’s conclusory argument noted above demonstrates the futility of … Continue reading
IA: Failure to articulate why state const. applies for different result is waiver
Failure to articulate one’s argument that the state constitution requires a different result is waiver. State v. Versteegh, 2022 Iowa App. LEXIS 434 (June 15, 2022). “Here, the issuing judge reasonably concluded, based on all of the circumstances, that there … Continue reading
E.D.Tex.: Whether RV was immobile and used as a residence doesn’t matter where GFE applies
“In his third numbered objection, Lee argues that contrary to Officer Kennedy’s testimony, the RV was completely immobile at the time it was searched and that it was being used as a residence. But whether the RV was mobile or … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: 4A doesn’t even require SW be signed if PC was found by issuing magistrate; signing in wrong place doesn’t matter
The issuing magistrate’s failure to sign the warrant in the appropriate place is not a Fourth Amendment violation. The Fourth Amendment does not even require the search warrant be signed by the issuing magistrate as long as probable cause was … Continue reading
CA9: Arrest on 7 year old PV warrant was 4A reasonable; state law violation not relevant to reasonableness inquiry
Plaintiff’s arrest on a parole retake warrant not executed for seven years was still reasonable on the totality. “Even if Cornel’s arrest violated state law, it was not necessarily a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court has … Continue reading
NY Bronx: REP in one’s apartment building mailbox
Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his mailbox in an apartment building from unreasonable searches. A search warrant was sought through the Bronx DA, but they were short staffed and recommended the officers get landlord consent. That was … Continue reading
CA8: Shoplifting arrest supported search incident of backpack; inevitable anyway
The search of defendant’s backpack incident to a shoplifting arrest produced a firearm. Even if the search incident wasn’t proper, it was inevitable the backpack would be inventoried at the jail.United States v. Trogdon, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 15860 (8th … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Tracking warrant issued without PC, but GFE still applied
There was no probable cause for the tracking warrant for defendant. But, it was not so lacking in probable cause that the good faith exception does not apply. United States v. Escudero, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89120 (D.Minn. May 18, … Continue reading
OH1: Doing nothing unusual or criminal 5 minutes after ShotSpotter alert wasn’t RS
Officers found defendant putting his kids in his car about five minutes after a ShotSpotter alert where no one had complained of gunfire. His ultimate frisk lacked reasonable suspicion. State v. Henson, 2022-Ohio-1571, 2022 Ohio App. LEXIS 1482 (1st Dist. … Continue reading
DE: A reporter gets access to SW materials for Apple and social media companies in this murder case
In this two defendant murder case, the state obtained 18 search warrants for Apple and social media, but only one has been returned. A reporter sought access to the affidavits, and it’s granted. Defense counsel has already been given access … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Attempted search incident well after arrest when duffle bag was away from def was not “incident to arrest”; govt overspinned the facts
The officer lacked exigency for a warrantless entry to arrest. Defendant put his duffle bag outside a second story window on the roof to conceal it. It was not abandoned because the public didn’t have access to it. All he … Continue reading
D.Idaho: To claim GFE, govt at least should have shown the officers read the inadequate affidavit to show reasonable reliance
The affidavit for the search warrant here was for evidence of rioting issued months after the riot, and it led to finding a weapon and some drugs and a cell phone seizure and search. To invoke the good faith exception, … Continue reading