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- VA: 12 second question about drugs didn’t unreasonably prolong the stop that was going to take a while anyway
- E.D.Tenn.: Application for SW was considered in detention ruling
- TN: RS didn’t develop to continue stop; second stop based on first suppressed
- CA4: Traffic stop immediately became firearms investigation; suppressed
- CA10: Disagreement over spelling of street name didn’t make warrant fail particularity; GFE at least would apply
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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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F.R.Crim.P. 41
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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) -
“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: F.R.Crim.P. 41
PA: SW affidavits not yet revealed to def; investigation could be compromised
Reviewing the affidavits for the three search warrants, the court is convinced that there is still a risk of compromising the investigation, so the search warrants will remain under seal as to the potential defendant. The court recognizes the right … Continue reading
D.Neb., M.D.Fla., C.D.Cal. also sustain an NIT search warrant for IP addresses
Another NIT warrant upheld in a child pornography case. United States v. Laurita, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103405 (D.Neb. Aug. 5, 2016)* (collecting cases):
E.D.Wis.: Rule 41 violation isn’t necessarily a 4A violation
A violation of Rule 41 simply is not a Fourth Amendment violation. The case defendant cites isn’t on point. “[T]he defendant ignores the fact that, thirteen years after [that] decision, and almost thirty years before the search that resulted in … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Another NIT Playpen case before same judge; suppression not a proper remedy
“The exact issues raised by the instant motions to suppress were also raised by the defendant in United States v. Gerald Andrew Darby, 2:16cr36. another case pending before the undersigned. The Court denied both Motions to Suppress in Darby and … Continue reading
D.Ore.: No territorial limitation for SW to Facebook under § 2703
“The territorial limitation in Rule 41 … does not limit warrants issued pursuant to [18 U.S.C.] § 2703.” A search warrant for Facebook in another jurisdiction was valid. United States v. Bundy, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94476 (D.Ore. July 20, … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: SCA warrant can cross jurisdictional lines
“The Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge’s determination that the SCA provided authority for the search authorized by Magistrate Judge Smith. See United States v. Berkos, 543 F.3d 392, 398 (7th Cir. 2008) (geographic limitation of Rule 41(b) does not … Continue reading
CA2: Court order under SCA can’t require production of emails stored off-shore
In the Matter of a Warrant to Search a Certain E Mail Account Controlled and Maintained by Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Corporation v. United States, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 12926 (2d Cir. July 14, 2016):
The Hill: Congress Blog: Congress should stop government hacking and protect the Fourth Amendment
The Hill: Congress Blog: Congress should stop government hacking and protect the Fourth Amendment by Peter Goldberger: While it is surely possible to craft a constitutional procedure for digital searches, the rulemaking process is not adequate for addressing such sensitive … Continue reading
Just Security: With Remote Hacking, the Government’s Particularity Problem Isn’t Going Away
Just Security: With Remote Hacking, the Government’s Particularity Problem Isn’t Going Away by Andrew Crocker:
DC: A SW doesn’t have to be just for evidence of a crime—it can be for “evidence that might lead to other evidence”
A search warrant doesn’t have to be just for evidence of a crime—it can be for “evidence that might lead to other evidence.” In re Grand Jury Witness G.B., 2016 D.C. App. LEXIS 170 (May 26, 2016):
ars technica: Senators put forward new bill to halt expansion of gov’t hacking powers
ars technica: Senators put forward new bill to halt expansion of gov’t hacking powers by Cyrus Farivar: Rule 41 change will let feds search “millions of computers” from just one warrant.
The Hill: Dem introduces bill to block new government hacking powers
The Hill: Dem introduces bill to block new government hacking powers by Katie Bo Williams:
The Hill: Search warrant change sparks backlash
The Hill: Search warrant change sparks backlash by Katie Bo Williams: A battle is brewing on Capitol Hill over a seemingly small change to federal hacking powers that critics say will authorize sweeping government surveillance. Unless Congress moves by December … Continue reading
Center for Democracy and Technology: Issue Brief: Proposed Changes to Rule 41
Center for Democracy and Technology: Issue Brief: Proposed Changes to Rule 41: The Rule Change: Under the old Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, magistrates with authority in a district may only issue warrants for search and … Continue reading
SCOTUS approves Rule 41 change permitting SW for remote access of electronic stored data, including “the Cloud”
On April 28th, SCOTUS notified Congress of amendments to F.R.Crim. 41 (also Rules 4 & 45)) to permit searches of remotely stored electronic data–essentially search warrants for the Cloud. The Rule change is effective December 1, 2016. The ACLU’s insightful … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: The govt didn’t violate the 4A by hacking into a child porn server and running it for two weeks, forwarding all user info to another govt computer
The government took over a child pornography website in Washington state and ran it for two weeks via a Title III warrant from a USMJ in the Eastern District of Virginia. They sent all information of visitors to that website … Continue reading
CA8: Exceeding the 30 day notice requirement for delayed notice under 18 U.S.C. § 3103a(b) not a Fourth Amendment violation
The government identified a child pornography server in Nebraska named Pedobook with sophisticated software designed to obscure the identity of all visiters. Rather than shut it down, they got a warrant to install tracking software on the computer and had … Continue reading
CA4: USMJ had correct attachment emailed but wrong one was presented and signed; technical violation, not a constitutional one; no suppression
The government emailed the issuing magistrate the correct attachments, but brought the wrong attachments to the court for signature. The magistrate had the correct ones on her desk, but signed the wrong one when it was handed to her. This … Continue reading
CA10: Violation of territorial limitation of Rule 41 was shown to be prejudicial, and suppression affirmed
The government conceded that the search warrant executed violated Rule 41(b)(1)’s within-district limitation on federal magistrate judges’ warrant-issuing authority. Because the government offered no other basis for reversal, and because the court concluded that defendant established prejudice as a result … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Rule 41 provides authority on PC for cell provider to assist in recording calls phone owner has already consented to
The government had permission from a cell phone user to record conversations but needed assistance from the cell phone provider which declined to do it without a court order. First, Title III doesn’t apply because the user’s consent removes the … Continue reading