Archives
-
Recent Posts
- CA11: Service of SW without attachments isn’t 4A violation
- KS: Running warrants on a passed out person is reasonable
- M.D.Fla.: Unidentified pills in driver’s lap may have been RS but it wasn’t PC for arrest
- D.C.Cir.: It was reasonable for officers to conclude that evidence or instrumentalities of the crime would be found in the car used in a robbery
- CA7: Officer’s warrantless view of CSAM flagged by hash value was not unreasonable
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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)
-
“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
N.D.Iowa: Drug dog breaking plane of the car window is a trespass and entry without PC
The drug dog broke the plane of the window, and that’s a trespass. There was no probable cause at that point, and the R&R is rejected. The motion to suppress is granted. United States v. Buescher, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
WV: Break in the chain of custody of DNA evidence taken after seizure is not a 4A violation
An after seizure alleged break in the chain of custody of DNA evidence taken is not a Fourth Amendment violation. Timothy C. v. Straughn, 2023 W. Va. LEXIS 339 (Sep. 15, 2023). Defendant’s LPN wasn’t visible until after the stop, … Continue reading
IL: No RS for stop of van allegedly involved in a robbery; officer had no details
“The trial court decided the facts were sufficient to justify a Terry stop. After taking account of the totality of the circumstances, we reverse the denial of Maxfield’s motion to quash arrest and suppress the identification and other evidence obtained, … Continue reading
NE: Franks challenge that included allegations that alternative suspects weren’t identified fails
Defendant’s Franks challenge that included allegations that alternative suspects weren’t identified fails. State v. Garcia, 315 Neb. 74 (Sep. 7, 2023). There was no reasonable suspicion to detain defendant for a dog sniff. He answered all the officer’s questions, and … Continue reading
OH7: Anticipatory warrant for prostitution
The anticipatory warrant here was for prostitution. State v. Zhang, 2023-Ohio-3173, 2023 Ohio App. LEXIS 3129 (7th Dist. Sep. 7, 2023). “The use of a drug-sniffing dog during a routine traffic stop that does not prolong the stop does not … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Ability to manage day-to-day operations doesn’t give standing over whole business space
(1) “Accordingly, although Defendant had the discretion to manage the day-to-day operation of LLB, the Court finds he did not actually manage the day-to-day operations of the business.” “In this context, ownership of premises alone does not automatically confer standing. … Continue reading
MS: Never getting ruling on motion to suppress is waiver
A motion to suppress where defendant never seeks a ruling on it is waived. McCollum v. State, 2023 Miss. LEXIS 238 (Sep. 7, 2023). The state search warrant application showed probable cause for a warrant for defendant’s devices for internet … Continue reading
NM: Suppression issues should not be decided at preliminary hearings
A preliminary hearing isn’t a proper place to resolve potential suppression issues. They happen on a “brisk time line” and the rules of evidence don’t apply to them. This is committed to the pretrial process in the trial courts. State … Continue reading
OH12: Gerstein violation doesn’t warrant new trial
“Assuming for the sake of argument that Akladyous was in fact improperly detained for more than 48 hours before a probable cause finding was made, such argument would not invalidate his subsequent conviction pursuant to Gerstein.” State v. Akladyous, 2023-Ohio-3105, … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Employee has no standing in office common area
Under Mancusi v. Deforte, an employee has no standing in the open area of the office where he or she works, as opposed to one’s private office. United States v. Johnson, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154559 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 31, 2023). … Continue reading
CA5: Arrest of ptf for social media joke about police violated 1A and 4A
Defendant officer’s arrest of plaintiff for terrorizing under state law for a social media post joke about the police violated clearly established law and violated the First Amendment, too. Bailey v. Iles, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 22503 (5th Cir. Aug. … Continue reading
CA3: Def’s possession of rental car with renter’s permission gave standing
“Christopher Montalvo-Flores moved to suppress evidence the Government obtained in its search of his girlfriend’s rental car. The District Court denied his motion, holding that he failed to show he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in that vehicle. We … Continue reading
TX5 upholds geofence warrant on PC and nexus, and then with GFE
The geofence warrant here satisfied the requirements of both probable cause and the good faith exception. There aren’t a lot of cases on geofence warrants, but those reaching the merits (and not just GFE) fully support the process here of … Continue reading
OH5: “Red screen” on patrol car’s computer screen was RS for def’s LPN
A “red screen” on the police car’s computer screen meant a serious warning about defendant’s LPN, and that justified the stop. State v. Cooper, 2023-Ohio-2897, 2023 Ohio App. LEXIS 2881 (5th Dist. Aug. 18, 2023).* Blocking both ends of an … Continue reading
FL2: Knock-and-announce not violated by “peaceably” entering through open door
“The record establishes that the doors to Mr. Wallin’s room were ‘completely wide open’ and the officers entered without force to execute a valid arrest warrant. The knock-and-announce requirement in section 901.19(1) did not apply based on the statute’s plain … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: Pepper spray use under the circumstances was reasonable
“Anthony argues that Gottschalk used excessive force when he sprayed him with OC spray, which the court now refers to as pepper spray. Applying the Graham factors and considering the totality of the circumstances, the court concludes that a reasonable … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Cell phone passcode given by consent, but Cellebrite can open phone anyway
Defendant consented to giving up the passcode to his phone. The court notes in n.2 that Cellebrite can crack the passcodes. United States v. Frey, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141180 n.2 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 14, 2023). Defendant was reasonably denied … Continue reading