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- D.Utah: Minor time detours to writing up a traffic ticket didn’t unreasonable extend this stop; the dog was quickly on its way
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- CO: DNA could be seized from trash
- CA8: Nebraska statute allowing SWs to cross state lines doesn’t violate 4A
- WA: Sweat patch as condition of release violated state constitution’s privacy provision
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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)
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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
TX2: No REP in public area of business
The state violated no reasonable expectation of privacy by entering the public area of a business. Tucker v. State, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 6617 (Tex. App. – Ft. Worth Aug. 26, 2025). Exigency not required for automobile exception search on … Continue reading
N.D.Okla.: ALPR challenge requires standing; even so, it doesn’t violate Carpenter
Defendant’s Fourth Amendment claim about ALPR requires he show standing in the vehicle he was driving, and here he did not. Even if he had standing, Carpenter provides him no relief. “As an initial matter, the court notes that no reasonable … Continue reading
Guam case shows: Don’t cross examine about the CI without a clear goal in mind
This started with a CI for a search warrant, but the hearing on the motion to suppress revealed there were actually three others. That information was outside the “four corners” but it cemented the probable cause. Guam v. Guerrero, 2025 … Continue reading
S.D.Ga.: Nervousness and evasiveness about gun in open carry state was RS
While Georgia is an open carry state, defendant’s evasiveness about having a gun on him and overall nervousness was reasonable suspicion. United States v. Williams, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159777 (S.D. Ga. Aug. 18, 2025):
CA10: Loud exhaust stop led to valid, albeit mixed motive, warrant arrest and inventory
Defendant’s loud exhaust led to his stop and then finding a warrant which led to his arrest and inventory which turned up fentanyl and a gun. “And although the officers decided to arrest Ulibarri for two reasons-properly for the bench … Continue reading
CA11: Officers’ random drug stops on the jetbridge of departing passengers at ATL were unreasonable
Officers’ random drug stops on the jetbridge of departing passengers at ATL were unreasonable on the face of the pleadings. The officers get qualified immunity, but their employer does not. André v. Clayton County, Georgia, No. 23-13253 (11th Cir. Aug. … Continue reading
VA: Dog repeatedly jumping onto the vehicle during the dog sniff was a search
The drug-sniffing dog’s repeatedly jumping onto and placing paws on a vehicle during a drug sniff constitutes a physical trespass for the purpose of obtaining information, and therefore qualifies as a search under the Fourth Amendment. Commonwealth v. Wiggins, 2025 … Continue reading
MS: The CIs were co-conspirators and eyewitnesses and could be credited
The three informants were co-conspirators, eyewitnesses, and participants in the crime, and their information could be credited for search warrant. Taylor v. State, 2025 Miss. App. LEXIS 292 (Aug. 12, 2025). Defendant’s 2255 re-raises his Fourth Amendment claim already rejected. … Continue reading
CA2: Subsequent officer’s entry into protective sweep wasn’t unreasonable; it was considered part of the first
The protective sweep of defendant’s garage which led to an observation that made it into the warrant application was reasonable. A later entry into the garage by another officer wasn’t unreasonable. It mimicked the first. United States v. Constantinescu, 2025 … Continue reading
MN: Mere propinquity to armed person not RS
Frisk of appellant for merely being near an armed person was without reasonable suspicion. In re C.T.B., 2025 Minn. LEXIS 392 (Aug. 13, 2025). There was arguable probable cause for defendant’s arrest. The claim that evidence was fabricated fails. “But … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: Open carry is not RS
Alabama permits open carry, and doing so is not reasonable suspicion. United States v. Mitchell, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156980 (M.D. Ala. Aug. 13, 2025):
CA9: Day care centers pervasively regulated for administrative searches
Child day care centers are sufficiently regulated by the state that they may be inspected. Foothills Christian Ministries v. Johnson, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 20697 (9th Cir. Aug. 14, 2025). Defendant’s challenge to the basis for his stop that led … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Photographic evidence of basis of stop not required
Where the stop is based on partial covering of the LPN, a photograph is not required at the suppression hearing. United States v. Tribble, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156885 (W.D.N.C. Aug. 13, 2025). Plaintiff’s issue of “the application for and … Continue reading
CA8: Running when asked about a gun was RS
“Running in response to the question about the gun is what gave the officers reasonable suspicion to think he might have one.” Then he tossed his gun “while tussling with officers.” United States v. Chumley, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 20497 … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: No exigency shown for warrantless domestic entry
Based on the complaint, there were no exigent circumstances justifying the warrantless entry into the home for a domestic disturbance that had calmed way down before police got there. Intertwined is the qualified immunity claim, and there’s not enough here … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: RS determined at the time of stop, not by what found after
A “black man with a waving a gun” did not justify defendant’s stop. When officers arrived, he was just there. No gun visible or apparent. Reasonable suspicion is determined at the time, not after the fact. United States v. Wilder, … Continue reading
Latin Times: Trump Administration Pushes to Use Spanish Language as Grounds for Immigration Stops
Latin Times: Trump Administration Pushes to Use Spanish Language as Grounds for Immigration Stops in California by Pedro Camacho (“The administration argued that agents should be able to rely on these indicators when enforcing immigration laws.”) I had an associate … Continue reading
CA11: SW for 15 years worth of records was still particular
The warrant for records was particular, albeit for 15 years worth of bank records, but it matched the time period under investigation, 1/1/05-11/11/19. And the good faith exception applies. United States v. Gyetvay, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 20080 (11th Cir. … Continue reading
NC: Nine-day delay between shooting and SW for gun wasn’t stale
A nine-day delay between a shooting and the search warrant for defendant’s place to look for the weapon wasn’t stale. The standard for timeliness is simply common sense. State v. Stevens, 2025 N.C. App. LEXIS 489 (Aug. 6, 2025).* A … Continue reading
CA5: “Fill in the blanks” arrest affidavit still showed PC
The “fill in the blanks” arrest affidavit for the Waco Twin Peaks biker shootout wasn’t fatally defective. What facts it had showed probable cause. Barnhart v. Stroman, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 19740 (5th Cir. Aug. 5, 2025). Based on a … Continue reading