September 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
- WaPo: Americans have turned against police cameras that track license plates, new survey shows
- W.D.Tex.: What is the duty of the neutral and detached magistrate?
- D.Me.: Yes, more investigation could have been done, but there’s still PC on what there was
- CA3: Brady doesn’t apply to SW materials
- E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
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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)
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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
E.D.Va.: Potential fraud conspiracy provided inference for PC to search cell phones
There was probable cause for the search of defendant’s cell phones in his car. He fled from an attempt to make a purchase at a store with a stolen prepaid credit card. When his car was stopped, he consented to … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Undercover officers entering public areas of a strip club as customers not a search
First undercover officers and then other officers entered plaintiff’s strip club to investigate alleged misdeeds inside. No warrant was needed under Macon because the parts of the club entered by the officers were open to the customers. ABECE Operating v. … Continue reading
CA9: PC for arrest in the 1A context: ptf street performer’s arrest was without probable cause
Plaintiff is a Las Vegas Strip street performer, and she was arrested for conducting business with another performer without a license. The district court erred by deciding that the officers had probable cause to arrest plaintiff despite the First Amendment … Continue reading
E.D.La.: Louisiana’s broad standing rule doesn’t apply in federal prosecutions
Defendant lacked standing in his codefendant’s cell phone and motel room. Louisiana’s broad state standing law doesn’t apply in federal prosecutions. United States v. Daniels, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76266 (E.D. La. May 5, 2017). Officers had justification for a … Continue reading
CA1: 82 minute stop was with RS
Reasonable suspicion developed from defendants’ stop to extend it for 82 minutes. United States v. Ramdihall, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8727 (1st Cir. May 18, 2017).* Defendant was stopped by police after getting off Amtrak at Minot ND. A great … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Delivery of meth to house in past was nexus
Nexus to the premises was shown by the observation of five pounds of methamphetamine being picked up there. United States v. Barron-Celis, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73083 (D. Minn. April 4, 2017),* adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72250 (D. Minn. … Continue reading
AR: Officer’s three week old knowledge of def’s suspended DL was RS for a stop
Reasonable suspicion doesn’t require certainty of facts. Here, the factual belief was that defendant’s DL had been suspended weeks earlier. Williams v. State, 2017 Ark. App. 291, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 301 (May 10, 2017). There was enough probable cause … Continue reading
GA: Smell of MJ on def’s person and not in his truck justified search of person
During a traffic stop, the officer noticed that defendant’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and his taste buds were white and risen. The officer smelled raw marijuana when he approached defendant’s truck; noticed that the odor dissipated during the search … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Gun on person was in plain view during struggle with officer
The gun on defendant’s person was in plain view during the defendant’s struggle with the officer. United States v. Cann, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68028 (E.D. Pa. May 3, 2017).* A witness claimed defendant was viewing child pornography on his … Continue reading
NJ: Trial court was clearly erroneous in finding apartment was abandoned
The apartment was clearly not abandoned, and the trial court’s finding that it was was clearly erroneous. It had furniture and other stuff in it showing occupancy, and the officers never asked the landlord whether it was unoccupied. The trial … Continue reading
IL: Arrest of driver would not make passengers think they were free to leave; continuation of stop was with RS
Passengers would not think they were free to leave based on the arrest and handcuffing of defendant driver. The continuation of the stop, however, was with reasonable suspicion because of furtive movements. People v. Veal, 2017 IL App (1st) 150500, … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: Even though California recognizes recreational marijuana, smell is still RS of driving under influence
Even though recreational use of marijuana is recognized in California, smoking while driving is still an offense, and smell is at least reasonable suspicion. United States v. Pearson, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65260 (C.D. Cal. April 28, 2017).* “Based upon … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Def corroborated officer’s smelling MJ by admitting he smoked in the car the previous night
Defendant corroborated the officer’s observation of the smell of marijuana coming from the car when he admitted having smoked marijuana in the car the night before. He also corroborated the drug dog by admitting he kept marijuana where the dog … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Police responding to a panic alarm developed PC for a SW from MJ smell
Police responded to a panic alarm at defendant’s home. He was defensive and really didn’t want them around. They could smell burnt marijuana coming from the house. A sweep was conducted, and then the police obtained a search warrant. The … Continue reading
M.D.La.: A couple of pills in the car not easily identifiable as controlled substances didn’t justify a search
Defendant’s frisk was justified by reasonable suspicion. The search of his person, however, was not justified: Some pills in the car that weren’t easily identified as controlled substances does not mean that defendant was committing a crime. United States v. … Continue reading
IA: Passenger smelling of MJ not PC as to the whole car
Defendant’s car was parked at a gas station pump too long while one of them went for gas money. The police showed up, asked for IDs and found a warrant on the passenger. The passenger got out of the car, … Continue reading
CA5: Arrest w/o PC can be retaliatory for refusing to answer questions at stop w/o RS
Plaintiff claimed he was arrested, handcuffed, and shackled simply for refusing to give his name and answer questions when he was stopped in a hotel parking lot apparently solely because of the officer’s curiosity. [At least plaintiff so plead because … Continue reading
S.D.Tex.: Use of software to scan a computer without looking at images to compare to NCMEC’s database not unreasonable even though some adult porn images slipped through to NCMEC
The used of specialized software to scan a hard drive for hash values of child pornography is reasonable. Defendant argued that at least one adult image of pornography had been uploaded to NCMEC’s database, but that doesn’t make every search … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Driving somebody to a stash house isn’t probable cause for your house
The affidavit for the search warrant completely failed to show probable cause for defendant’s house. The fact he drove somebody to a stash house isn’t probable cause to believe he’s involved in the stash house and its drug trafficking organization. … Continue reading
MA: Def was on pretrial GPS monitoring, and it can be used as evidence in another case
Defendant agreed to GPS monitoring as a condition of pretrial release in another case. Thus, his motion to suppress the monitoring is denied when he’s accused of a burglary, and the GPS puts him there. His argument was that he … Continue reading