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- E.D.Mich.: State environmental inspector who entered property to look at unlicensed seawall gets QI
- S.D.Fla.: SW for def’s house included his tent outside
- 404 Media: Flock: LAPD Regularly Pulled Over Innocent People Because License Plate Readers Flagged Their Cars As Stolen
- CA6: Despite two guns being suppressed from arrest on bare-bones arrest affidavit, third gun was later validly seized by independent source
- D.Md.: Govt’s motion to reconsider granted motion to suppress denied; arguments now are too late
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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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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
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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: Probable cause
FL6: Officer does not have to decide potential defenses to a traffic stop before letting motorist go
“In similar fashion, the officer in our case did not need to first reach a state of ‘absolute certitude’ before forming a probable cause belief that careless driving had occurred. While there were numerous possibilities that could have presented a … Continue reading
D.Minn.: PC shown for SW for dog sniff at apartment door
There was probable cause for a dog sniff warrant at defendant’s apartment door. There was also probable cause for the warrant for his vehicle. The use of an unwitting informant doesn’t negate probable cause (collecting cases). United States v. Turner, … Continue reading
MD: No claim for false arrest under an arrest warrant approved by a judge on PC
After being acquitted in a bench trial on interpretation of the statute involved, plaintiff sued for false arrest and malicious prosecution. The arrest warrant was issued on probable cause by a neutral and detached magistrate, and the officers had to … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Out-of-bounds camping stop led to RS and that led to PC
Defendant was stopped for out-of-bounds camping by a park ranger. The conversation led to reasonable suspicion then to probable cause for a search. United States v. Gearhart, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146610 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 16, 2024). Obviously, vehicle stops … Continue reading
N.D.Miss.: Def’s arguments against the PC showing in the SW go more toward a trial defense, not PC
Probable cause and good faith arguments about three images of child pornography in the affidavit out of 121 total, were more toward a defense of the charge and do not undermine probable cause. United States v. Murphy, 2024 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
CA7: No court has suppressed a Playpen SW, and changing the argument up a bit doesn’t succeed either
Every court to have dealt with the good faith exception in Playpen warrants has sustained them. This case attempts a different casting of the argument, but it’s rejected too. United States v. Dorosheff, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 19590 (7th Cir. … Continue reading
CADC: Ptf’s arrest on mistaken identity was still reasonable
The District Court correctly granted qualified immunity to an officer who detained plaintiff due to a mistaken identity fugitive warrant because there was no showing that any reasonable official in the defendant’s shoes would have understood that he was violating … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Asking about drugs made this stop intimidating and governed by Rodrieguez
During this stop, the officer finally asked about drugs in the car. “At this moment, the encounter became intimidating, and a reasonable person in Tripp’s situation would not feel free to leave. The encounter thus ripened into a Terry, or … Continue reading
CA11: While prison visitor strip search violated 4A, SCOTUS and this circuit have never ruled, so QI applies [and QI reigns supreme]
A prison visitor was fully strip searched on entry into a Georgia state prison. This search violated the Fourth Amendment. But, because this circuit and SCOTUS have never confronted this issue, the law is not “clearly established” and she loses … Continue reading
MN: PC required to get order to produce DNA for comparison to evidence
A court order for defendant’s saliva for a touch DNA comparison required a showing of probable cause. State v. Steeprock, 2024 Minn. App. LEXIS 345 (July 29, 2024). “[T]he record evidence demonstrates that three police officers ran from the police … Continue reading
TX3: Wife conducted private search of husband’s cell phone by using his thumb to open it while he was asleep
In Texas where a private search can be suppressed, defendant showed that his wife accessed his cell phone without his consent, and the search was suppressed. She used his thumb to open the phone while he was asleep. State v. … Continue reading
CA8: When it was immediately apparent that RS for the stop no longer existed, it should have ended
As the officer approached the car stopped for suspicion of shoplifting, it was immediately apparent that the occupants did not match the description of the shoplifters he was looking for. The stop should have ended then. Storrs v. Rozeboom, 2024 … Continue reading
D.C.Cir.: SW for multiple cell phones was valid because all were shown to be involved
This search warrant for multiple cell phones showed enough that multiple cell phones were involved in the offense under investigation, and, thus, the warrant was not overbroad, distinguishing United States v. Griffith, 867 F.3d 1265 (D.C. Cir. 2017) where there … Continue reading
Cal.4: Defense subpoena for social media records was not improperly issued and enforced; holders of records got to be heard under SCA
Denying the state’s motion to quash a criminal subpoena duces tecum issued to social media companies was not error. Under the Stored Communications Act, the trial court allowed the companies an opportunity to be heard, conducted a sufficient analysis of … Continue reading
CA5: GFE first (was reliance objectively reasonable), PC second
“Warrants are reviewed under a two-part test. In the first step, we determine whether the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies. Under that exception, ‘evidence obtained from [a] search will not be excluded’ even if ‘probable cause for a … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: Def didn’t show he was driving overdue rented car with anyone’s permission
Defendant had no standing in the rented car he was driving. It was rented by another person, and it had not been timely returned. He didn’t show that he was driving with anyone’s permission. United States v. Manning, 2024 U.S. … Continue reading
D.Md.: Review of PC isn’t as skeptical as def requests
“Here, the affidavit easily meets the standard of probable cause. Defendants would require a level of skepticism that is not appropriate to the oversight at this juncture. The scheme to defraud was amply established by the affiant and so was … Continue reading
LA4: Being seen in a “drug hot spot” adds nothing to RS
Being seen in NOLA “drug hot spots” doesn’t add anything to reasonable suspicion. Suppression affirmed. State v. Tate, 2024 La. App. LEXIS 1107 (La. App. 4 Cir. July 11, 2024). The complainant’s telling the police of being drugged for sex … Continue reading
NY3: SW for evidence of robbery (stolen property and mask) found def’s cell phone with image of him wearing the mask on its wallpaper
A search warrant in a robbery case looked for stolen property and the mask involved. When police executed the warrant, they found his cell phone with him wearing the mask as the wallpaper image on the phone. “We find without … Continue reading