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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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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)
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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: Reasonable expectation of privacy
AL: There is no REP in a LPN on a vehicle
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a license plate, and the Fourth Amendment doesn’t prohibit running the tags for any reason. State v. Abrams, 2018 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 24 (Apr. 27, 2018). The government obtained internet routing … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Drug testing school teachers violated 4A
Drug testing of some school teachers in the District of Columbia violated the reasonable expectation of privacy and didn’t serve government interests. There was no indication one group of teachers (really small kids) even deserved to be included for a … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Lyft drivers didn’t state a claim for invasion of privacy from taking of geolocation data that was shared on an app
Plaintiff Lyft drivers sued Uber for invasion of privacy and other claims. Plaintiff did not state an invasion of privacy claim from using an app on their phone that tracked them. He didn’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy in … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Alleged search of a public computer in a library for ptf’s usage didn’t violate any REP
Alleged search of a public computer in a college library for information about plaintiff’s use of it doesn’t violate any reasonable expectation of privacy. Berry v. Yosemite Cmty. College Dist., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64732 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 17, 2018). … Continue reading
Cal.-LA Cty: REP of apartment tenants barred discovery against them as witnesses
Tenants of an apartment complex had a reasonable expectation of privacy from being brought into a discovery dispute. They had a right not to have their privacy invaded. Castillo v. LA Props. Heffesse LLC, 2018 Cal. Super. LEXIS 119 (Super. … Continue reading
IL: Hospital employee seizing def’s clothing from private room at police request violated 4A
Police enlisting a hospital employee to enter defendant’s hospital room to take his clothing violated his reasonable expectation of privacy and made the employee a police agent. The seizure violated the Fourth Amendment. People v. Gill, 2018 IL App (3d) … Continue reading
W.D.Mich.: No REP in overheard unethical ex parte communication with a judge
An ex parte communication between lawyers and a judge overheard on an open phone line of a part of a call that hadn’t been completely disconnected has no reasonable expectation of privacy. Ideally, there woud be a reasonable expectation of … Continue reading
AF: Inevitable discovery validated finding CP while looking for text messages with minor
The search authorization was valid for text messages between defendant and a supposed 14-year-old girl. The AFOSI investigator found child pornography in what was thus found to be plain view. Even if, arguendo, the officer was looking for child pornography, … Continue reading
Daily Beast: New Facebook-Backed Law Would Let Foreign Governments Get Your Data Without a Warrant
Daily Beast: New Facebook-Backed Law Would Let Foreign Governments Get Your Data Without a Warrant by Spencer Ackerman:
NYTimes: Justice Dept. Revives Push to Mandate a Way to Unlock Phones
NYTimes: Justice Dept. Revives Push to Mandate a Way to Unlock Phones by Charlie Savage: Federal law enforcement officials are renewing a push for a legal mandate that tech companies build tools into smartphones and other devices that would allow … Continue reading
NJ: Police break-in into apartment building common hallway violated REP
In 2010, police broke into the outer door of a two unit apartment building and looked in defendant’s open door. By then, the state courts had already held there was a reasonable expectation of privacy in the common hallway of … Continue reading
W.D.La.: Use of key fob to find def’s car in Walmart parking lot wasn’t unreasonable search
Using defendant’s key fob to find his car in a Walmart parking lot was not an unreasonable search because there was no reasonable expectation of privacy in which car was his, following United States v. Cowan, 674 F.3d 947 (8th … Continue reading
OH3: Court declines to extend state const to trash searches
The court declines to extend the state’s constitution to prohibit trash searches permitted by the Fourth Amendment. While other state courts have done so, this state has not yet, and that’s for the state supreme court. Another district had also … Continue reading
MO: No REP in a dilapidated broken down trailer on rural property without any secure walls, roof, or floor
Defendant worked for a tree service that had a rural place where they burned tree debris. There was a broken down trailer on the property that had missing walls, partially missing roof and a rotting floor where defendant changed clothes. … Continue reading
NPR: A Homeless Man’s Truck Is His Home, Judge Rules In Seattle
NPR: A Homeless Man’s Truck Is His Home, Judge Rules In Seattle by Laurel Wamsley: In a case that may have significant implications for Seattle’s fast-growing homeless population, a King County Superior Court judge ruled on Friday that the pickup … Continue reading
MD: Use of text messaging is not a waiver of REP for spousal privilege
The state obtained text messages by legal process and admitted them at trial, arguing that the Verizon service agreement was a waiver of any reasonable expectation of privacy in third party records. It is not a waiver of spousal privilege … Continue reading
KY: Police use of license plate reader violates no REP
Police use of a license plate reader that led to finding a warrant on the owner violated no reasonable expectation of privacy. Traft v. Commonwealth, 2018 Ky. LEXIS 68 (Feb. 15, 2018). In a state wiretapping case over the legal … Continue reading
NY2: Morning eviction led to trespassing claim in afternoon, and police entry was valid; no REP after eviction
All the occupants of an apartment were evicted in the morning. Stragglers didn’t vacate. The building manager reported trespassers to the police and they came and entered. They found eight guns in defendant’s possession. Because of the eviction, nobody had … Continue reading
Ars Technica: Why cops [think they] won’t need a warrant to pull the data off your autonomous car
Ars Technica: Why cops won’t need a warrant to pull the data off your autonomous car by Cyrus Farivar. Said a local law enforcement officer: “It’s like instant replay in the NFL; I can tell what happened.”
Cal.4th: No statutory or inherent authority for a court to impose a search condition as a condition of bail
There is no statutory or inherent authority for a court to impose a search condition as a condition of bail. The defendant is still presumed innocent and still has a reasonable expectation of privacy. In re Webb, 2018 Cal. App. … Continue reading