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- CA8: Def’s 20 prior arrests helped show voluntariness of consent
- TX1: No standing to challenge seizure of ketamine off co-def, but PC was lacking for his own arrest
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- E.D.Va.: WaPo reporter’s SW was overbroad and 1A protected
- CAAF: GFE applies to cell phone’s geolocation data because of substantial basis for the search authorization
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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
W.D.Pa.: Protective sweep of house was reasonable despite def’s arrest outside
The officers had knowledge defendant had confederates in his drug operation. While he was arrested outside his house, a protective sweep inside was still shown to be reasonable. United States v. Pope, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 209740 (W.D. Pa. Nov. … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Judge actually participating in seizure denied absolute immunity
A state judge is denied absolute immunity for allegedly participating in a seizure in the courthouse rather than just ordering it. Rockett ex rel. His Minor Children v. Eighmy, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 205918 (W.D. Mo. Nov. 13, 2024). A … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: No REP against police squeezing a package in transit in the mail
Squeezing a mail package in transit isn’t the same as a suitcase near at hand (Jones), and there was no reasonable expectation of privacy. Quinonez v. United States, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 204220 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 8, 2024). A blanket … Continue reading
FL3: There is a lower expectation of privacy in a boat than in a car; stop for license, registration, and safety inspection was reasonable
“The [Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officers] had authority to stop the boat to inspect licenses, registration, and safety equipment. State v. Casal, 410 So. 2d 152, 155 (Fla. 1982) (‘In sum we find that the state’s interest in random … Continue reading
IN: Search of passenger’s bag in car before handing it over so he could leave was reasonable when there was PC as to the car
After a traffic stop of a rental vehicle produced a marijuana smell, the driver and passenger were detained. The passenger was shortly let go and asked for his bag from the car. The officer’s search of the bag before handing … Continue reading
WI: Social media TOS agreements show no REP in CP
The Terms of Service agreements of social media platforms state that they are required by law to report child pornography. Therefore, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in one’s files that are child pornography. State v. Gasper, 2024 Wisc. … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Reporting requirements of Corporate Transparency Act don’t violate 4A under California Bankers
Plaintiffs challenge the Corporate Transparency Act on several grounds. As to their claim the reporting requirement violates the Fourth Amendment, there is no likelihood of success on the merits under California Bankers decided 50 years ago. Community Ass’ns Inst. v. … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Three images from ALPR in 30 days wasn’t enough for a Carpenter violation
Police checking the database of Flock’s ALPR for defendant’s license plate revealed only three images in 30 days. The court is not inclined to hold that the mere potential of a Carpenter violation makes one. What happens hereafter might. United … Continue reading
OH: Even when the driver isn’t the owner with a suspended DL, it’s not unreasonable to ask for his DL
The stop was because the vehicle owner had an expired DL. When the officer discovers the driver is not the owner, the officer does not act unreasonably in asking for the driver’s DL. State v. Dunlap, 2024-Ohio-4821, 2024 Ohio LEXIS … Continue reading
D.P.R.: REP in workplace isn’t automatic; here there wasn’t any in a postal sorting area
A reasonable expectation of privacy in one’s workspace is not automatic. Here it was a postal worker in a sorting area, and that wasn’t private. United States v. Alarcón-Rodríguez, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175916 (D.P.R. Sep. 25, 2024).* “Because a … Continue reading
Security Boulevard: Virginia Court Strikes Down Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
A trial court, so not binding: Security Boulevard: An Unexamined Life – Virginia Court Strikes Down Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) by Mark Rasch
D.Or.: The reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021 do not violate the 4A or 5A
The reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021 31 U.S.C. § 5336 do not violate the Fourth or Fifth Amendment under California Bankers Assn. v. Shutlz. Firestone v. Yellen, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170085 (D. Or. Sep. 20, … Continue reading
IL: No REP in ER trauma room
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a hospital ER trauma room, even though there is under state precedent in a single bedroom. People v. Turner, 2024 IL 129208, 2024 Ill. LEXIS 469 (Sept. 19, 2024). Defendant argued that … Continue reading
D.Conn.: LEO accessing public social media accounts doesn’t implicate 4A
A prison security official’s accessing a potential visitor’s social media accounts to determine whether the visitor is some kind of security threat doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. Lawrence v. Zack, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161377 (D. Conn. Sep. 9, 2024). … Continue reading
EFF: You Really Do Have Some Expectation of Privacy in Public
EFF: You Really Do Have Some Expectation of Privacy in Public by Matthew Guariglia & Lisa Femia:
CA7: SW affiant doesn’t have to explore all of def’s possible defenses in affidavit
When the affiant officer establishes probable cause for a search warrant, he or she isn’t required to explore all the defenses or affirmative defenses the search target may have to put in the affidavit. Here, this arose in the context … Continue reading
PA: No REP against use of a light transmittance meter for window tint
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy that an officer’s can’t use a light transmittance meter on window tint that is plainly visible. “Nonetheless, application of the window tint meter here was not unreasonable in light of the authority granted … Continue reading
CA6: No special REP in crypto in FinCEN 8300 reporting
There is no special reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment to bar the IRS/FinCEN Form 8300 reporting requirement. Carman v. Yellen, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 20033 (6th Cir. Aug. 9, 2024). Four of petitioner’s 2255 claims involved a … Continue reading
IL: Invited guest in home can refuse contact with police at door without violating law
As an invited guest into the home, defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy and right to refuse contact with the police at the door without violating the law. People v. Jones, 2024 IL App (1st) 221555, 2024 Ill. App. … Continue reading