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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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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)
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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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Privileges
CA6: Asking def before a patdown during arrest what he had on him wasn’t barred by Miranda
Asking defendant before a patdown during arrest what he had on him wasn’t barred by Miranda. United States v. Lester, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 9162 (6th Cir. Apr. 16, 2024). The evidence supports the trial court’s conclusion defendant consented to … Continue reading
CA9: Compelled use of fingerprint to open a cell phone didn’t violate 5A
Police forcing defendant parolee to use his fingerprint to open his cell phone was not testimonial under the Fifth Amendment. It was “cognitive exertion” and akin to taking DNA or a blood draw. United States v. Payne, 2024 U.S. App. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: GJ subpoena for cell phone passcode quashed.
The government’s grand jury subpoena for defendant’s cell phone passcode is quashed because it seeks testimonial information in violation of the Fifth Amendment showing defendant’s knowledge of the contents of the phone. “The Court denies Gray’s Rule 41(g) motion. Even … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: There’s a privacy interest in a cell phone passcode, but its disclosure here under a ruse does not lead to suppression
There is a privacy interest in one’s cell phone passode protected by the Fifth Amendment. Here, however, defendant’s disclosure of the passcode in responding to a CBP ruse after a flight from Mexico was not compulsion. United States v. Shvartsman, … Continue reading
OH1: Missing notary seal on SW affidavit not an error of constitutional magnitude, so no suppression
A search warrant isn’t void because the affidavit in support was missing a notary seal. The rest of the statutory requirements were satisfied, and this wasn’t an error of constitutional magnitude. State v. Whittle, 2024-Ohio-1023,2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 958 (1st … Continue reading
NJ: State could get SW for bullet removed during surgery even four years after shooting
Defendant had elective surgery four years after a shooting to remove the bullet. The police were entitled to a search warrant for the bullet from the hospital because it was evidence of a crime. Trial court’s denial of the warrant … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Cell phone that govt can’t open not in its possession for discovery purposes
Defendant’s cell phone is in the possession of the government but it can’t search it because they don’t have the pass code. Defendant’s request for discovery of the phone under Rule 16 is denied because the contents of the phone … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Accidental finding of A-C communications in cell phone search was not intentional and did not compromise defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel
Defendant’s Apple cell phone was searched with a warrant, and the contents were shared with defense counsel even before the government completed its own review. It was discovered that there were attorney-client communications on the phone, and the government immediately … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Inevitable discovery applies to def giving up passcode to cell phone
Inevitable discovery applies to defendant giving up the passcode to his cell phone by a statement he challenged. The government had an independent basis to get into the phone to search it. United States v. Xiaolei Wu, 2024 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
techdirt: Every Major Pharmacy Chain Is Giving The Government Warrantless Access To Medical Records
techdirt: Every Major Pharmacy Chain Is Giving The Government Warrantless Access To Medical Records by Tim Cushing:
Cal.6: SW for fingerprint to unlock cell phone wasn’t unreasonable under 4A or testimonial compulsion under 5A
The officers here got a search warrant which required defendant to submit to unlocking his cell phone with his fingerprint. They opened the phone, but then it locked and they needed a second warrant to unlock it again. The affidavit … Continue reading
UT: Prosecutor’s trial comment on def’s refusal to give passcode to phone violated 5A
Defendant refused to reveal the passcode to his cell phone, and the police never got into it. He was charged with kidnapping, and he claimed that there was no kidnapping and that she consented to come with him. At trial, … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Cell phone records obtained by SW not self-authenticating as evidence under 902(11)
Cell phone records obtained by warrant are not self-authenticating under F.R.E. 902(11). More will be required. United States v. Charbonier-Laureano, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218249 (D.P.R. Dec. 5, 2023). The government’s knowledge fraud co-conspirators communicated by cell phone during period … Continue reading
CA11: Gov’t adequately protected against A-C materials being searched in border search of Venezuelan attorney’s cell phone; “no privileged material was ever found”
Defendant was a Venezuelan attorney whose cell phone was searched at the border. He said there likely was privileged attorney-client information on his phone, but it was searched under a DHS protocols to safeguard privileged information and legal advice was … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Telling def the SW for his phone required his passcode was unreasonable because it didn’t
Defendant was in U.S. diplomatic service in Mexico, and he was accused of sex with drugged women there. Proof was ultimately found on his phone with a search warrant on his return to the U.S. Officers returned to his hotel … Continue reading
NBC News: Marion, Kansas, police chief suspended following series of raids
NBC News: Marion, Kansas, police chief suspended following series of raids (“The Marion, Kansas, police chief was suspended this week following a series of raids that included the office of a local newspaper and the home of the city’s vice … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Right to non-recording and distribution of jail calls to attorneys was clearly established
Plaintiff’s complaint against the jail for recording attorney-client calls and transmitting them to law enforcement and prosecutors stated a claim for relief that was clearly established. Hurdsman v. Gleason, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163081 (W.D. Tex. Sep. 14, 2023). Defendant’s … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Cell phone passcode given by consent, but Cellebrite can open phone anyway
Defendant consented to giving up the passcode to his phone. The court notes in n.2 that Cellebrite can crack the passcodes. United States v. Frey, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141180 n.2 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 14, 2023). Defendant was reasonably denied … Continue reading
Kansas Reflector: In Marion County newspaper raid, a grim threat to Kansans’ First Amendment rights
Kansas Reflector: In Marion County newspaper raid, a grim threat to Kansans’ First Amendment rights by Clay Wirestone:
NY Albany: Text message confession to molestation to wife was still covered by marital privilege when she disclosed to police
Defendant confessed to his wife by text message to molestation of his nephew. Despite her consenting to turn it over to the police, he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the message and marital privilege still applied. People v. … Continue reading