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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Protective sweep
W.D.N.Y.: Using flashlight to look in bag tossed in flight in a house was reasonable on protective sweep
Use of a flashlight in a protective sweep of a black bag tossed by a fleeing suspect in the house was reasonable for safety reasons. Inside, methamphetamine was found. United States v. Adams, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28537 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. … Continue reading
CA6: Govt completely failed to show nexus or PC thus no GFE
The affidavits supporting the records warrant for defendant’s home did not establish nexus between his alleged drug activity, drug records, and his address. Also, the affidavit did not allege that defendant dealt drugs from the house or that he even … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: Validity of a stop doesn’t depend on whether a traffic offense actually happened, just whether there is RS it did
“[T]he constitutionality of the stop does not depend on whether the driver did, in fact, commit a traffic violation. The standard is reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. If an officer reasonably thinks he saw a driver commit a traffic infraction, then … Continue reading
PA: Attachment to a warrant can provide particularity
The attachment to a warrant can provide particularity. While one ground to suppress was mostly litigated, it was apparent the other ground wasn’t waived or abandoned. Commonwealth v. Young, 2022 PA Super 220 (Dec. 23, 2022).* “Here, the record demonstrates … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Park ranger’s arrest of def outside park wasn’t 4A violation, even if statute violated
“Ruiz argues that, because Carozzi lacked the statutory authority to arrest him outside the park, the arrest violated his Fourth Amendment rights, and therefore all evidence collected subsequent to his arrest (i.e., the breathalyzer results) must be suppressed. In the … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: “Place of residence” for a parole search of an absconder includes a motel room he’s staying in
The “place of residence” for a parole search of an absconder includes a motel room he’s staying in. He also has no standing to challenge a search of a trash can outside the room. United States v. Nichols, 2022 U.S. … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Govt failed in its burden of proof on justification for protective sweep
The court finds, with the evidence in equipoise, the government didn’t meet its burden of showing the arrest happened inside defendant’s house or outside. This is critical, because the police did a protective sweep and used that to get a … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Protective sweep under a bed is reasonable
The protective sweep here looking under the bed was reasonable. It’s where people hide. Defendant’s contention the sweep went further isn’t clear. Some things were moved and opened, but a search warrant had been executed between the sweep and her … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Time waiting for someone to come to remove car, tow truck or friend, was part of incidents of stop
When the vehicle will be removed because of no licensed person to take control, the time between the calling of the tow truck or a friend or family member to take it away and their arrival is part of the … Continue reading
IL: Police car computer report stopped car had no insurance was presumptively reliable basis for stop
Defendant’s car was licensed in another state, so the state’s window tint law didn’t apply, and that couldn’t be a basis for the stop. However, the car was uninsured per the police computer system. “We further note that Campbell’s reliance … Continue reading
NV: Protective sweep doesn’t require a prior arrest and state didn’t articulate the RS of potential danger for it
“While we hold that a protective sweep does not require a prior arrest, we conclude that the district court correctly concluded that the search performed here was not a lawful protective sweep because it was not based on articulable facts … Continue reading
D.Idaho: This protective sweep was based on speculation and was unreasonable
Here, the protective sweep claim of the government was factually based on speculation, and was unreasonable. United States v. Iverson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156914 (D. Idaho Aug. 29, 2022). Defendant’s stop for suspieion of criminal activity was reasonable. United … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Protective sweep justified despite hearing no one inside
A protective sweep of defendant’s apartment was reasonable on the totality despite the officers not hearing anyone inside. United States v. Turner, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144215 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 12, 2022). “At no point did Veney voluntarily submit to … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Prolonging traffic stop to inquire of probation or parole status unreasonable
Prolonging the traffic stop for further information on defendant’s parole and probation status was unreasonable. It diverted from the traffic stop. United States v. Gould, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142915 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2022). The protective sweep of defendant’s … Continue reading
IA: Smell of MJ smoke 6 days earlier wasn’t stale here
“[W]e conclude that although this was an isolated event and the evidence sought was easily removable, the passage of six days was not significant enough to render the warrant stale.” State v. Euchner, 2022 Iowa App. LEXIS 590 (Aug. 3, … Continue reading
CA8: Protective sweep of vehicle on RS reasonable even if def standing outside
When there is reasonable suspicion a driver is armed, a protective sweep of his vehicle is permitted even though he’s outside of it. United States v. Dabney, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 21400 (8th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022). Family member was … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: Court decides geofence warrant on GFE without getting to 4A merits
Defendant was a suspect in a series of 35 carjackings where the car was shortly thereafter used in an armed robbery. A geofence warrant was used to track defendant at the scenes of the robberies. After discussing the case law … Continue reading