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- GA: Raising particularity in half of one sentence of argument isn’t a presentation of the issue
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- GA: No case says SW required to ask for cell phone password
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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)
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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: Computer and cloud searches
AZ: Computer search warrants get greater scrutiny; this one lacked all particularity and no GFE applies
Computer search warrants get greater scrutiny. The search warrant for defendant’s computer lacked any particularity, and it could not be saved by the good faith exception. State v. Dean, 2017 Ariz. App. LEXIS 12 (Jan. 12, 2017):
IA: An exchange of texts between def and deceased justified search of cell phone; computer search also justified
Only the information in the search warrant application can be considered on the question of whether there was probable cause for its issuance. In this murder case, the absence of evidence in defendant’s car led to an inference it could … Continue reading
The Legal Intelligencer: Will Technology Change the Interpretation of the Fourth Amendment? Part 2
The Legal Intelligencer: Will Technology Change the Interpretation of the Fourth Amendment? Part 2 by Leonard Deutchman:
NYLJ: Ethics of Using Hacked Information to Prosecute Criminal and Civil Claims
NYLJ: Ethics of Using Hacked Information to Prosecute Criminal and Civil Claims by Rahul Mukhi and Martha Vega-Gonzalez: Since WikiLeaks first came to global prominence in 2010, an increasing number of vigilantes, activists, and allegedly even state actors have obtained … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Using Cellebrite to copy files on two phones and an iPad at the border was with RS and reasonable
A DHS officer took defendant’s Motorola phone, iPhone, and iPad from a Customs officer at the border when defendant was arrested for importing cocaine in her car. The Motorola phone wasn’t password protected, and it was examined with a Cellebrite … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Failure to follow a document search protocol in otherwise reasonably conducted computer and device searches wasn’t unreasonable under 4A
The court conducts a second hearing over whether blanket suppression is required for over searching numerous electronic devices seized from the defendant, some of which were later turned over by defense counsel. Defendant sought to bring his case within “United … Continue reading
CO: No IAC for not challenging P2P search of computer since no REP
Defense counsel was not ineffective for not challenging the search of defendant’s computer via a P2P connection on Limewire that resulted in his child pornography conviction. By going online via Limewire, defendant essentially opened his computer to the outside world, … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: Limited motion for return of property doesn’t prevent transfer from feds to state; privilege issues can still be litigated later
The petitioner moved for return of property, seized computer information, under Rule 41(g) for purposes of conducting business. The government moved to transfer the information to state authorities for their own investigation. The fact there is a potential attorney-client privilege … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: Software to monitor computer usage of person on supervised release not unreasonable if necessary in the first place
Defendant was under court ordered computer monitoring as a condition of his supervised release, and software was installed on his computer and then his cell phone to monitor his text messages and internet searches. Seventh Circuit precedent forecloses defendant’s argument … Continue reading
IL: Civil discovery request to search personal computers was unreasonable; it was tenuous anything helpful would be found
Defendant was rear-ended in a car wreck, and he claimed various injuries, including cognitive impairment. The defense sought access to his work and personal computers in an effort to determine whether they could shed light on that. Under the Illinois … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Kidnapping investigation ultimately led police to def’s rental property; he fled when they attempted to stop him; nexus to property shown
Police investigating two robberies with kidnappings got the lead on defendant from GPS in a stolen car that gave them an address. Investigating that address gave them another lead to the place ultimately searched that the robbers were renting that … Continue reading
W.D.Ark.: Search for electronic evidence can be intense; digital media can be “mere centimeters long”
A search for digital evidence in a Facebook threat case led to a plain view of firearms and drugs, and the search was valid. The digital evidence could have been on flash drives “mere centimeters long” and that permitted an … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: SW for dead protected birds and records at house didn’t include searching the home security DVR
Defendant was a suspect in killing protected birds, and wildlife officers obtained a search warrant for his house seeking dead raptors, devices to capture or trap them, records, pictures, emails, documents, audio and video relating to firearms, and “[a]ny and … Continue reading
OH5: SW for drug transaction evidence on computer reasonably led to finding CP
The computer search warrant in this case was for evidence of drug activity (as in pictures and Excel spreadsheets or other ledger information), and the officer stumbled upon child pornography. The fact files can be hidden or deliberately mislabeled necessarily … Continue reading
WaPo: Was it legal for the FBI to expand the Weiner email search to target Hillary Clinton’s emails?
WaPo: Was it legal for the FBI to expand the Weiner email search to target Hillary Clinton’s emails? by Orin Kerr:
New law review article: Digital Duplications and the Fourth Amendment
Note, Digital Duplications and the Fourth Amendment, 129 Harv. L. Rev. 1046 (2016)
OR: Def’s SDT for narrow computer files of alleged rape victim was reasonable when it pertained to credibility
Defendant was accused of rape, and the victim told others she had searched Google for information about rape under Oregon law shortly afterward. Defendant sought production of her Google search history to attempt to attack her credibility. The state could … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Another Playpen warrant upheld
Another Playpen warrant upheld. United States v. Allain, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134605 (D.Mass. Sept. 29, 2016).* This white collar case warrant was based on probable cause and was sufficiently particular. Good faith also would sustain the warrant. United States … Continue reading
WaPo: Volokh Conspiracy: Remotely accessing an IP address inside a target computer is a search
WaPo: Volokh Conspiracy: Remotely accessing an IP address inside a target computer is a search by Orin Kerr: Last week, I wrote a post on the Playpen warrant currently being litigated in federal courts around the country. My post included … Continue reading
WaPo: Volokh Conspiracy: Government ‘hacking’ and the Playpen search warrant
WaPo: Volokh Conspiracy: Government ‘hacking’ and the Playpen search warrant by Orin Kerr: In recent months, over a dozen district courts have handed down divided opinions on the legality of a single search warrant that was used to search the … Continue reading