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- OH2: Stop outside the officer’s jurisdiction doesn’t violate 4A
- RawStory Opinion: Trump just declared these parts of America are outside the Constitution (within 100 miles of any border)
- CA1: SW for iPhone 6S didn’t permit search of iPhone 13 despite same phone number
- CA7: It wasn’t a 4A violation to place a pole camera to look over def’s fence he built knowing he was under surveillance
- NM: Conflict of laws: NM exclusionary rule applies to TX 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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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
DC: Police on the scene in less than 30 seconds after Shotspotter alert was RS here
It was reasonable for officers to conclude that reasonable suspicion existed when they arrived within 30 seconds of a Shotspotter alert. “This immediacy also limits the possibility that the culprit (or culprits) could have fled before the officers arrived. In … Continue reading
OH9: ‘A determination that reasonable suspicion exists, however, need not rule out the possibility of innocent conduct. Terry accepts the risk that officers may stop innocent people.’”
“‘A determination that reasonable suspicion exists, however, need not rule out the possibility of innocent conduct. Terry accepts the risk that officers may stop innocent people.’” State v. Kleintop, 2021-Ohio-3584, 2021 Ohio App. LEXIS 3493 (9th Dist. Oct. 6, 2021). … Continue reading
KY: Stop of a known druggy on the street was without RS
Two officers in two cars pulled up on defendant walking down the street with another known druggy. The officers and defendant knew each other because they’d arrested him before. The trial court did not err in finding this was a … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Generalized “street tip” about defendant wasn’t RS
The street tip officers got was transmitted now third hand to the stopping officer. The tips were unremarkable about their credibility and weight. The court finds no reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop. United States v. Joyner, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: Mere allegation the private search was expanded fails; def has to show something
Defendant alleges that NCMEC or the police expanded a private search. “However, Defendant concedes that he has no knowledge or evidence that either NCMEC or the police expanded the scope of the Facebook search. … Therefore, Defendant cannot assert that … Continue reading
CA10: RS from excessive nervousness, air freshener, multiple cell phones, energy drinks and caffeinated beverages, unusual travel plans, and inconsistent statements about where he had been
“Like the district court, we ‘evaluate each of the factors supporting reasonable suspicion separately and in aggregate.’ … The following led Webb to believe Defendant might be engaged in criminal activity: (1) excessive nervousness; (2) the strong scent of air … Continue reading
OH6: Smell of alcohol and glassy eyes at 4:30 am alone not RS
“Based on our case law and considering the totality of the circumstances, we cannot find that Kiefer had reasonable, articulable suspicion to administer field sobriety tests to Dye. Based on the evidence and testimony in the record, we are left … Continue reading
D.Md.: Exit border search doesn’t require particularized suspicion
The exit border search of defendant’s bags and computers was reasonable in this government fraud investigation. Particularized suspicion wasn’t even required, albeit present. United States v. Nkongho, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184402 (D.Md. Sept. 27, 2021). Plaintiff’s stop for allegedly … Continue reading
ID: State’s argument on timing of when RS arose changed on appeal, so it’s waived
The trial court invited the state to brief reasonable suspicion for the stop, but it instead relied exclusively on the community caretaking function. It argued below that reasonable suspicion developed after the stop. On appeal, it argued reasonable suspicion justified … Continue reading
CT: SW for blood was independent source from extension of stop
The search warrant for defendant’s blood is a valid independent source from the alleged extension of the stop. State v. Fields, 2021 Conn. App. LEXIS 341 (Sept. 28, 2021).* The circumstances of this stop and arrest are objectively reasonable, so … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Listing inventory on police report and not inventory sheet not unreasonable
“Therefore, the officers’ decision to list the items recovered during the inventory search in the Incident Report and not on the Impound Report does not invalidate the inventory search.” United States v. Morris, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182946 (E.D.Mich. Sept. … Continue reading
OR: Dog sniff during traffic stop lacked any RS
“Here, officers deployed a drug-detection dog during a traffic stop for failing to signal continuously for at least 100 feet before turning-without articulating any independent constitutional justification. Moreover, the state has not identified any theory or pointed us to any … Continue reading
ID: RS as to driver and officer safety extends to passenger, too
When a traffic stop turns into reasonable suspicion for other crime, the reasonable suspicion extends to being able to control the passenger, too, for officer safety. There is no reasoned basis for differentiating between drivers and passengers for officer safety. … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: A state DMV database that is 90-95% accurate on insurance records is close enough for RS
“Stone makes much out of the fact that the SOS database is only 90-95% accurate. The database’s high degree of accuracy would seem to work against rather than support Stone’s argument. As a practical matter, ‘probable cause does not require … Continue reading
NJ: After a patdown, new facts at the scene can support a second one
After a patdown, new facts at the scene can support a second one. State v. Carrillo, 2021 N.J. Super. LEXIS 123 (Sept. 17, 2021). “Here, the totality of the circumstances—Traylor’s regular use of a vehicle that was observed recently at … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Handcuffing a concealed carry permit holder was without RS and unreasonable
“In light of the uncontested fact that Plaintiff presented his pistol permit to Defendant before or at the time he disclosed that he was in possession of a pistol and the absence of any other indicia that Plaintiff was otherwise … Continue reading
CA3: Carpenter just doesn’t apply to jail call recordings
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in jail calls admitted to prove a conspiracy, and Carpenter doesn’t apply. “While we need not decide how far Carpenter extends to other technologies, it does not apply to prison phone calls. Unlike … Continue reading