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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 -
© 2003-25,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 500,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 47,000 posts since 2003 (30,000+ on WordPress as of 12/31/24) -
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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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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)
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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, 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] -
“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) -
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, Little Rock 
Category Archives: Exclusionary rule
ND: Exclusionary rule does not apply to civil administrative drivers license suspensions
The exclusionary rule does not apply to civil administrative drivers license suspensions. Beylund v. Levi, 2017 ND 30, 2017 N.D. LEXIS 30 (Feb. 16, 2017):
AR: Knock-and-announce applies to parole searches, but Hudson adopted and exclusionary rule doesn’t apply
The knock-and-announce rule applies to parole searches, and violation of the rule is a substantial violation of the Fourth Amendment and the state constitution. The court adopts Hudson, however, and finds that the exclusionary rule should not be applied. Lane … Continue reading
CA11: First offender DNA sample that should have been destroyed under state law but wasn’t could be used in federal prosecution
Under Georgia law, a DNA sample from a first offender should be expunged from the system when he completes his probation or sentence. This one wasn’t. Whatever the statute says, it doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Hinton, … Continue reading
CA8: Def’s statement was attenuated from the false statement that led to the SW being issued
An untrue statement in an affidavit for search warrant was attenuated from defendant’s later confession. All four factors of the attenuation doctrine weighed in favor of not suppressing statements defendant made during his interview with the agent. The causal connection … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Def’s conditional plea and slight chance of success on appeal aren’t enough to avoid detention at plea
Defendant litigated a motion to suppress and lost, and then he entered a conditional plea. Because his sentencing range is 10 years or more, he is ordered into custody. The court is not convinced there is a debatable issue for … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Undocumented alien was held w/o PC and interrogated; exclusionary rule applies
“This is a story about law-enforcement officers who take shortcuts in their zeal to make arrests and the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution, which prohibit them from doing so.” Defendant was validly stopped, but he was … Continue reading
PA holds state constitution requires exclusionary rule applies to parole and probation revocation proceedings
PA holds state constitution requires exclusionary rule applies to parole and probation revocation proceedings. The court engages in a lengthy and sensitive analysis. Commonwealth v. Arter, 2016 Pa. LEXIS 2916 (Dec. 28, 2016):
IL: Exclusionary rule does not apply to liquor license disciplinary proceeding arising from admin search
Petitioner had a liquor license in Chicago, and an inspection occurred under authority of state law and city ordinance. The permitted premises was the first floor, but he owned accessible property in the floors above. Upstairs, the officers found a … Continue reading
IL: GFE does not apply to seizure under a statute later held unconstitutional
Defendant was stopped and relieved of a handgun by the police and charged with it. Four years later, the state supreme court held that possession of a handgun alone, without criminal purpose, violated the Second Amendment. Defendant gets the benefit … Continue reading
CA1: Arrest of removable alien was without RS, but because no flagrant violation of 4A, no suppression
Respondent was ordered removed from the country after ICE agents encountered him at work. They thought he was somebody else, and he was handcuffed and questioned. It became apparent that he wasn’t the man they were looking for, but he … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: The exclusionary rule doesn’t [hardly ever] apply to violations of supervised release
The exclusionary rule does not apply to violations of supervised release, but it might be possible if the deterrence rationale could still apply sometimes, just not here. “Thus, just like in Scott, applying the rule would inhibit the government’s ability … Continue reading
CO: Humane Society employee not statutorily authorized to procure SW, but court refuses to suppress
While an “animal protection agent” of the Humane Society is not statutorily authorized to seek a search warrant under Colorado law, the court refuses to suppress because there was probable cause and the warrant was otherwise executed reasonably. People v. … Continue reading
MA: Exclusionary rule not applied to MJ discovered during entry after 911 call
Police were called to an apartment because of noise then a water leak into their place. The officer went to look for the cause and found a mason jar with marijuana. The grant of the motion to suppress is reversed … Continue reading
FL1: Assault of officer on porch attempting to talk to def leading to police entry and more resisting not subject to exclusion
Police came to defendant’s trailer to talk to him about a domestic battery allegation. He refused to come out, and argued at the door with the police. Finally, he reached out and slapped an officer’s hand. That led to them … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Whether Ohio window tint law is unconstitutional or not, that doesn’t make the stop unreasonable
Ohio’s window tint law delegates to administrators to determine the degree of tint. Whether the law is unconstitutional or not, that doesn’t make the stop under the law unreasonable or unconstitutional. United States v. Torbert, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125616 … Continue reading
KY: Click on wrong name on LPN reader screen same as erroneous warrant; exclusionary rule not applied because of mere negligence
An officer on patrol was running LPNs to see what he’d find. On defendant’s vehicle, a list a names came up, and the officer accidentally clicked on the wrong name resulting in defendant’s stop for an outstanding warrant that didn’t … Continue reading
SCOTUSBlog: The Court after Scalia: Scalia’s absence may help preserve the exclusionary rule
SCOTUSBlog: The Court after Scalia: Scalia’s absence may help preserve the exclusionary rule by Orin Kerr:
W.D.Tex.: In a Playpen case, planting software on a computer to cause it to transmit its address is “unquestionably a search”
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in IP addresses, but planting software on a computer to cause it to transmit its address is “unquestionably a search.” Recognizing the split of authority, Rule 41 was violated, but the court declines … Continue reading
NE follows Herring on no exclusion for slow updating of warrant database
Defendant was arrested based on an outdated warrant. State law prior to Herring likely would have provided relief, but the court is now bound by Herring and concludes that the exclusionary rule would not be applied. Yes, there was delay … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: Strieff applied to a possibly negligent look through a garage window when OnStar reported location of stolen car
A Cadillac was stolen from a car dealer, and it was tracked by OnStar in the car. Police came to do a knock-and-talk. Two cars were in the carport that weren’t the stolen car. They looked through a window of … Continue reading