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- 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
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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)
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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
CA10: Despite SW’s overbreadth, executing officers understood the crime under investigation; GFE applies
The warrant was previously held overbroad and the case was remanded to the district court for findings on the good faith exception. In this second appeal, the good faith exception applies. The officers understood the limits in the warrant to … Continue reading
ID: Statutory admission of evidence in administrative proceeding is not a separation of powers issue
Admission or exclusion of evidence in an administrative proceeding over a driver’s license is not governed by the rules of evidence, but it does recognize constitutional limitations. That is not a separation of powers issue because it is within the … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: 40 day delay in getting cell phone SW was not unreasonable where def was still in custody and could not possess it
Delays in the case were to work out a plea agreement, not file motions. For that reason, the motion to suppress is denied. On the merits, the 40 day delay in seeking a warrant for his cell phone was reasonable … Continue reading
CA10: Govt has to be shown to have property to be ordered to return it under Rule 41(g)
The district court lacked jurisdiction to order return of property under Rule 41(g) because it could not be shown that the government was in possession of the hard drive defendant sought return of. United States v. Toombs, 2023 U.S. App. … Continue reading
CA9: Officers must have PC defendant had a parole search condition before the search
Officers must have probable cause to know defendant had a parole search condition before searching, and here they had that. United States v. Estrella, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 13994 (9th Cir. June 6, 2023). (In my state, it comes up … Continue reading
W.D.Mich.: When the question of PC for a warrant is close, there’s still a substantial basis for finding PC and GFE
The question of probable cause to search these packages was a close call. There clearly was at least reasonable suspicion and some of the same facts support probable cause. On the totality, there was at least a substantial basis for … Continue reading
NY Kings Co.: Def on video at a subway station near a robbery where he was already a suspect was enough for CSLI for his phone
Defendant is charged with robbery on a subway car in the Bronx. Video from a station was matched to his picture as a likely match. That was reliable enough to seek CSLI from his phone to see if he was … Continue reading
VA: Later adopted statutory exclusionary rule not retroactive
A statutory exclusionary rule for a particular action that was adopted after the search and seizure was not retroactive. Moore v. Commonwealth, 2023 Va. App. LEXIS 343 (CMay 30, 2023) (unpublished).* The totality shows reasonable suspicion to extend the stop … Continue reading
NJ: Computer return of car owner’s suspended DL justified stop, but it had to end when it was obvious driver was not owner
A police car computer that tells the officer the owner of a vehicle has a suspended license is reasonable suspicion for a stop, unless there is objective evidence the driver cannot be the owner. Here, it was obvious the driver … Continue reading
GA: 2022 SW for cell phone illegally searched in 2020 had no independent basis; no GFE
The trial court did not err by granting the motion to suppress evidence seized as a result of the search of his cell phone because the State’s original warrantless search in 2020 was improper and the State did not remedy … Continue reading
NY: Second SW for phone a year later after first SW failed to show PC wasn’t timely
The first cell phone search warrant was rejected for lack of probable cause. It only provided a generic description of cell phones as repositories of potential evidence without linking it to this case. The phone was still in the evidence … Continue reading
OH7: Officer taking the Fifth at suppression hearing because of other matters doesn’t prove Franks violation
At defendant’s suppression hearing, one of the officers was relieved of duty due to other misconduct, and he took the Fifth. On what remains in the affidavit and on the totality doesn’t otherwise show a Franks violation. State v. Hartung, … Continue reading
M.D.Ga.: No right to challenge SW before execution
It isn’t apparent that there’s a right to challenge a search warrant before it is executed. (Rule 17 covers motions to quash subpoenas.) Even if there was, defendant doesn’t carry his burden. United States v. Crumpton, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA6: Officer firing gun at a person he or she doesn’t know fired one, too, is excessive
Officers fired at plaintiff without knowing whether he was the one who fired a gun at them. The sound of racking a bullet into a gun’s chamber in the abstract was not enough. LeFtwich v. Driscoll, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA7: Home confinement sentence included a valid search waiver
Defendant was serving a home confinement sentence that included a search waiver. Officers developed reasonable suspicion of another crime and a violation of living conditions. The search was reasonable. United States v. Beechler, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 12312 (7th Cir. … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: State SW doesn’t deprive federal court of jurisdiction
Federal courts had jurisdiction over defendant’s criminal case despite his initial arrest after execution of a state search warrant. Calzada v. United States, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86622 (W.D. Tex. Apr. 13, 2023). Disclosure of the CI who provided information … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Driving from source city to NYC on a “super drug corridor” with a prior importation charge wasn’t RS
During the traffic stop, defendant was directed out of the car and back to the patrol car to facilitate issuing a warning. Defendant was from Douglas, AZ and had a prior drug importation arrest. This also led to his patdown. … Continue reading
OH3: Officers had PC without regard to what CI said
The officers had probable cause for defendant’s stop without regard to what the CI said, so failure to corroborate the CI had no effect on the outcome. State v. Harrison, 2023-Ohio-1618 (3d Dist. May 15, 2023).* Defendant’s stipulated plea agreement … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Hospital nurse who found drugs on def wasn’t state actor
A nurse in a hospital who found drugs in defendant’s pants was required by policy to search the rest of his belongings. The nurse was not a state actor. United States v. Kunsman, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84362 (E.D. Pa. … Continue reading