June 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Archives
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Recent Posts
- CA6: CI’s lie to get into def’s house to video him making a drug deal with the CI didn’t violate 4A
- TN: Def lived in a van left wide open in a public area, but it didn’t belong to him, so no REP as to interior
- VI: Despite ubiquity of cell phones, nexus has to be shown to alleged crime
- N.D.Ga.: PIT maneuver here was not excessive force
- LA4: Acting like carrying a gun and wearing a ski mask in New Orleans in June was RS
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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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FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
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Section 1983 Blog -
"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
LA5: Woman in a man’s hotel room for a tryst has apparent authority to consent to room search
The woman alone in defendant’s motel room to have sex with him had apparent authority to consent to a search. “Additionally, the search appears to have been reasonable under Illinois v. Rodriguez, supra. The police in the present case testified … Continue reading
In Missouri, if a motel operator wants you out, the police can enter and search your room
Police went to a motel to tell the operator that a person in room 114 was associated with a guy arrested in a stolen car just leaving the motel property. The motel operator gave a key to the room to … Continue reading
NY Co. Ct.: Prison inmate pat frisk that includes touching genitals not unreasonable
A pat frisk of a prison inmate that often includes touching the genitals is not unreasonable because of the loss of liberty that comes with incarceration. There is no equal protection claim just because prison visitors don’t go through the … Continue reading
NY4: Warrantless probation search condition based on “alcohol/drug abuse” wasn’t supported by the record
A warrantless probation search condition based on “alcohol/drug abuse” wasn’t supported by the record, and it is struck on appeal. People v. Mead, 2015 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8395, 2015 NY Slip Op 08304 (4th Dept. Nov. 13, 2015). Alleged … Continue reading
NPR: When Prisoners Email Their Lawyers, It’s Often Not Confidential
NPR: When Prisoners Email Their Lawyers, It’s Often Not Confidential by Joel Rose:
The Hill: Prison phone company denies it recorded private calls
The Hill: Prison phone company denies it recorded private calls by Katie Bo Williams: Prison phone system vendor Securus is denying that it improperly recorded inmates’ calls to their attorneys. According to a bombshell report published Wednesday by The Intercept, … Continue reading
KS: Judge was former ADA who prosecuted def 15 years earlier for fraud; he was “neutral and detached” and could issue SW in murder case unrelated to prior prosecution
(1) The judge issuing the search warrants in this murder case was a former Chief Deputy District Attorney who had prosecuted defendant for financial crimes more than 15 years earlier. That connection was insufficient to show that he was not … Continue reading
OH9: No standing in a package of drugs shipped to house in boyfriend’s name
A package containing cocaine was shipped to defendant’s house in the name of her boyfriend. She had no standing in the package because her name wasn’t on it. State v. Padilla, 2015-Ohio-4220, 2015 Ohio App. LEXIS 4112 (9th Dist. Oct. … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Burner phone and being from town of Sinaloa Drug Cartel were factors in reasonable suspicion
“Deputy Jimerson is trained in drug interdiction and has previously testified as an expert witness on interdiction. During the stop, he saw the defendants were speaking on Tracfones when he approached the car, which he knows to be commonly used … Continue reading
E.D.La.: Robert Durst case: One does not lose REP in a hotel room by registering under an alias
Robert Durst was believed to be on the run after the HBO series “The Jinx,” where he allegedly admitted a connection to a 10 year old homicide in Los Angeles. He was found by the FBI in the Marriott in … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Police entry into public bar area clearly within Fourth Amendment; customers have no right to have sex in public
The Fourth Amendment claim that police entered the bar area of the plaintiff’s business because of police calls fails because it was open to the public. The selective enforcement claim fails on the facts. There is no First Amendment right … Continue reading
TX11: College student has REP in dorm room
A college student has a reasonable expectation of privacy in her dorm room from an entry by the police. The fact the resident assistant could look in there wasn’t determinative. State v. Rodriguez, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9972 (Tex. App. … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: No REP in the hallway of a U-Haul storage facility from a dog sniff
Defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the hallway of a U-Haul storage facility. Thus, a dog sniff there was probable cause for a search warrant for the storage unit. United States v. Flores, 2015 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: The detailed nature of how CP file sharing tracking software works isn’t required to show PC
In a child pornography investigation, DHS used investigative software named Torrential Downpour which is used to track file sharing on P2P computers looking for child porn for transfer and monitoring data flow. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in … Continue reading
NJ: Stashing drugs in another person’s drainpipe shows no REP
Defendant who hid drugs in the drainpipe of a neighbor’s house had no standing to challenge a search of the drainpipe. While evidence at the trial differed, this did not give the defendant the right to reopen the suppression hearing. … Continue reading
D.Mass.: A paying passenger in a cab has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the passenger compartment
“While the question is close,” the court concludes that a paying passenger in a livery car has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the passenger area of the cab from the police, relying on United States v. Woodrum, 202 F.3d … Continue reading
SC: Turning computer over to repair tech when it wouldn’t boot was waiver of REP in the data because the hard drive needed repair
Defendant turned her computer over to a repair technician when it wouldn’t boot. He was copying files from the hard drive to backup the data before attempting to fix it, and he saw a questionable image suggesting child exploitation. Coincidentally, … Continue reading
The Marshall Project: A Phone Call From Jail? Better Watch What You Say
The Marshall Project: A Phone Call From Jail? Better Watch What You Say by Ken Armstrong: A confession, a threat—it’s probably taped. And admissible. Although people do things against their own interest all the time, even the police can be … Continue reading
D.Colo.: Motion for return of property denied until post-conviction process over
Defendants moved for return of their property after conviction and the appeal was affirmed. The government gets to keep it pending conclusion of any collateral review which might be filed. United States v. Banks, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107994 (D.Colo. … Continue reading