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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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)
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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 suspicion
OH11: No REP in CI’s recording def in own home
A CI recording the defendant in his own house doesn’t violate any reasonable expectation of privacy. State v. James, 2016-Ohio-7262, 2016 Ohio App. LEXIS 4121 (3d Dist. Oct. 11, 2016). 911 domestic call involving a knife and a Taser on … Continue reading
OR: Stop of car outside trailer park known for drug activity unreasonable
Defendant pulled up and stopped outside a trailer park known for drug activity. Stopping him to ask for his ID was unreasonable. He’d committed no possible offense. State v. Bray, 281 Ore. App. 435 (Oct. 5, 2016). The stop of … Continue reading
OH2: Warrantless blood draw from unconscious def being treated in hospital was reasonable because of exigency
Defendant ran into construction equipment killing his passenger and severely injuring himself. At the hospital, he was being treated and unconscious. He smelled of alcohol. The warrantless blood test was based on exigency. State v. Hayes, 2016-Ohio-7241, 2016 Ohio App. … Continue reading
C.D.Ill.: Twice flying an airplane across the country and immediately returning was RS
While the defendants’ conduct in flying an airplane across the country and back within hours may have been perfectly lawful, on the totality, there was reasonable suspicion to encounter them. United States v. Eymann, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138482 (C.D.Ill. … Continue reading
AZ: Search incident of def’s backpack in next room when he was handcuffed was unreasonable
“The state argues Snyder’s backpack was within his immediate control because it was next to the entrance of the room in the security office where Snyder was detained. According to the state, Snyder could have ‘quickly reached the backpack (notwithstanding … Continue reading
TX7: Officer’s “knowledge, training and experience” isn’t a panacea that automatically adds up to turning innocent conduct into RS
The officer’s “knowledge, training and experience” isn’t a panacea that automatically adds up to turning innocent conduct into reasonable suspicion. More is needed from the state. State v. Ramirez-Tamayo, 07-15-00419-CR (Tex. App. – Amarillo Oct. 5, 2016):
CA2: Even if individual violations of probation conditions weren’t RS, on totality they were
Even if any one of the violations of conditions of release wasn’t reasonable suspicion, collectively they were. A cell phone picture showed him with a handgun in hand saying “I need bullets,” and he was convicted of being a felon … Continue reading
VI: Despite MJ decrim, smell of MJ in a car is still a factor in RS
VI decriminalization doesn’t mean the smell of marijuana can’t still be reasonable suspicion of possession of a larger amount or potentially driving under the influence. People v. Cannergeiter, 2016 V.I. LEXIS 148 (Sept. 28, 2016):
OH9: Nine air fresheners on mirror and one on each air vent was RS
Defendant had nine air fresheners hanging from the rearview mirror and one over every air vent. That was reasonable suspicion to utilize a drug dog during the computer checks and then another officer running a dog around the car while … Continue reading
FL1: Passenger’s detention may be extended because of RS as to driver
A passenger is stopped with the vehicle he or she was in. The length of that stop depends upon what happens with the driver and passenger, and it can be extended lawfully as to the passenger because of reasonable suspicion … Continue reading
AK: State court judgment not “void” for habeas purposes because evidence illegally seized
A state court judgment is not “void” for state habeas purposes because it relies on evidence allegedly obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Olson v. State, 2016 Alas. App. LEXIS 172 (Sept. 23, 2016). Defendant saw an unmarked police … Continue reading
TN: Blood on def’s sock supported PC for automobile exception
Based on blood on defendant’s sock, on the totality there was probable cause to believe that more possible blood evidence would be found in his car. That was sufficient for the automobile exception to apply. State v. Peden, 2016 Tenn. … Continue reading
The Hill Blog: Open-carry opens up series of constitutional issues for cops
The Hill Blog: Open-carry opens up series of constitutional issues for cops by Geoffrey Corn: A police officer receives a dispatch call to a public disturbance. The dispatcher provides the limited information she can: protesters have assembled in a downtown … Continue reading
AL: Forfeiture claimant failed to show standing to contest the search that led to seizure of his cash
Defendant for all appearances was visiting the house searched but not an overnight guest. At any rate, he did nothing to show standing. When asked for consent, defendant refused saying it wasn’t his place, but he took the officers inside … Continue reading
TX: Anonymous tip was corroborated at the scene by officers for RS
An anonymous tip brought police to where defendant was, and their observations corroborated the tip sufficient to support reasonable suspicion. Furr v. State, 2016 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1094 (Sept. 21, 2016) (dissent):
Common Dreams: Does Fear of Black Men Satisfy the “Objective Reasonableness” Standard?
Common Dreams: Does Fear of Black Men Satisfy the “Objective Reasonableness” Standard? by Brian Purnell: The case that set the standard on when police officers are justified in using excessive force is Graham v. Connor. But how that standard is … Continue reading
MA: Def’s landlord’s statements were independent of any illegal entry, and they supported PC for SW
Statements from the owner of defendant’s house which made it into the search warrant application and were made after the alleged illegal entry by the police were an independent source. Thus, the motion judge properly denied the motion to suppress … Continue reading
ND: When suspect lives in house and drug paraphernalia out, it’s not “mere presence” for his detention
When drug paraphernalia is present and in plain view, detaining all present is not a detention for “mere presence.” Moreover, defendant stayed there. State v. Schmidt, 2016 ND 187, 2016 N.D. LEXIS 177 (Sept. 15, 2016). Defendant’s stop on Ft. … Continue reading