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- E.D.Mich.: Second SW for cell phone data retained by govt was valid
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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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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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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: Waiver
CA7: Despite govt’s not raising abandonment, the court finds it anyway
The government conceded no abandonment and sought other exceptions to the warrant requirement. The court of appeals finds abandonment anyway because the record is clear. In addition, an allegation of a Franks violation fails without alleging that probable cause does … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Pro forma objection to R&R doesn’t articulate argument, so it’s waived
Defendant didn’t fairly articulate his objections to the R&R, so his objection is waived. United States v. Hill, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83707 (N.D.Ga. May 9, 2022). There was probable cause for this search authorization, and the good faith exception … Continue reading
D.Kan.: 10 weeks of pole camera surveillance in disability fraud investigation was reasonable
Defendant was on disability. The government placed a pole camera across the street from his house to see whether he was able or not, and he was indicted for theft of public funds. Ten weeks of pole camera surveillance was … Continue reading
IN: State const’l arguments have to be raised in trial court first
Defendant’s argument for a change in standing law under the state constitution that he should have the ability to challenge the search of another person’s person and clothing wasn’t raised below, so it’s waived. State v. Allen, 2022 Ind. App. … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Acting strange walking down the street is not RS
“While Vasquez was indeed acting strangely, for the stop to be valid, his conduct must be indicative of criminal behavior. The Court here simply cannot bridge the connection between the conduct here that is suspicious or odd in the lay … Continue reading
OH1: GPS pings on stolen vehicle led to attempted knock-and-talk and observation of its tracks
Officers following a GPS ping on stolen vehicle with off-road tires came to defendant’s home for a knock-and-talk. Receiving no answer, the officer followed the driveway and saw three storage buildings. “Because the driveway is open to the public and … Continue reading
NY3: Pleading guilty after suppression hearing but before decision is waiver
Pleading guilty after the suppression hearing but before it was decided is waiver. People v. Lende, 2022 NY Slip Op 02581, 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2476 (3d Dept. Apr. 21, 2022). The stop here was with reasonable suspicion. Officers … Continue reading
MO: Def’s actions when coming upon a ruse checkpoint on I-44 was RS
“[T]he procedures of the ruse drug checkpoint, coupled with Defendant’s conduct of abruptly changing lanes and taking Exit 33 at the last second, meets the standard for individualized suspicion required by Edmond and Mack.” State v. Barnum, 2022 Mo. App. … Continue reading
D.C.Cir.: Admin. law: 4A claims must be brought at agency level first
In an action before the Board for Correction of Naval Records, the service member had to raise his Fourth Amendment claim before the agency or it is waived, which is what happened here. McPherson v. Del Toro, Sec’y of the … Continue reading
E.D.Okla.: Lack of nexus to cell phone saved by GFE
The affidavit for the search warrant for defendant’s phone didn’t show nexus, but it was still relied upon in good faith. R&R rejected. United States v. Langford, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55162 (E.D.Okla. Mar. 28, 2022). Sounds and observations of … Continue reading
WI: After suppression of blood BAC test in hospital, SDT for hospital’s own test reasonable and independent
“After crashing his car, Daniel Van Linn was taken to the hospital, where two blood tests were performed: the first one by the hospital for diagnostic and treatment purposes; a later one at the direction of a sheriff’s deputy for … Continue reading
D.Guam: Issuing magistrate’s later recusal for knowing target’s dad doesn’t show he wasn’t neutral and detached
After search warrant was issued, the issuing magistrate recused from the rest of the matter because defendant’s father was a longstanding employee of the court. There apparently was no relationship with defendant. This did not present a constitutional problem for … Continue reading
D.Neb.: State officer’s jurisdiction is not a 4A question
State officers outside their jurisdiction making an arrest is not alone a Fourth Amendment violation. Virginia v. Moore. United States v. Blair, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47833 (D.Neb. Mar. 17, 2022).* Defendant found to have consented to a search after … Continue reading
CA9: Fed SW for state SW product was with PC and cured alleged deficiencies in state affidavit
The state obtained phone records by search warrant which defendant claimed was without probable cause. The federal government also got a search warrant for the same records from the state, and it showed probable cause. That was via independent source. … Continue reading
NY Oneida: Order for DNA sample doesn’t require a pending criminal case
A DNA sample can be sought by court order before a criminal case is filed. People v. Forte, 2022 NY Slip Op 22066, 2022 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 873 (Oneida Co. Mar. 9, 2022). The scope and manner of the stop … Continue reading
CA2: Hand-to-hand transaction supports search incident
Hand-to-hand transaction as probable cause supports search incident to arrest. United States v. Campbell, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 6060 (2d Cir. Mar. 9, 2022). This is a prison employee drug testing case. The employee left the premises rather than submit … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: Telling def to get out of vehicle and sit on curb is seizure
“The Court concludes that the encounter transformed into a seizure only moments later, when Deputy Baptista asked Defendant to step out of the vehicle and have a seat on the curb. Although these requests were phrased as questions, they would … Continue reading
ID: 5th wheel trailer parked, slides out, and hooked up to electricity was an outbuilding subject to the SW
A fifth-wheel trailer parked, jacked, chocked, with extensions out and hooked up to electricity was on the property to be searched. It was not specified in the warrant, but it was treated as an outbuilding covered by the warrant. The … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Officer’s personal knowledge of the accused and the place to be searched is sufficient for PC
“In short, if the source of the information here had been a citizen-informant rather than a law enforcement officer, this assertion of personal knowledge by a known informant, under oath and personally present before the clerk-magistrate, combined with corroborating details … Continue reading
CO: While trial court erred in considering officers’ subjective intent, there still wasn’t RS
“We conclude that while the trial court erred in considering the officers’ subjective intent in effectuating the seizure, it was nonetheless correct that the officers lacked reasonable and articulable suspicion to detain Brown. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order … Continue reading