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Recent Posts
- OH7: Magistrate signing SW for something outside of territorial jurisdiction not a 4A violation
- 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
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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
OH6: 3 controlled buys by 2 CIs was PC; no requirement of showing how they were arranged to happen
Three controlled buys by two CIs was probable cause. There was no showing required of how the drug deals were to be arranged. State v. Reed, 2020-Ohio-138, 2020 Ohio App. LEXIS 107 (6th Dist. Jan. 17, 2020).* There was probable … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Def’s frisk was based on guilt by association and wasn’t for safety purposes
Defendant’s friend was involved in passing counterfeit $20 bills in a casino as viewed on video. The government, however, had no reasonable suspicion that defendant was actually involved in the scheme, so his frisk was unreasonable. Defendant’s frisk was investigatory … Continue reading
VA: Running the serial number of a seized firearm isn’t a “search”
When defendant got out of the car, the officer could see the butt of a gun sticking from his coat pocket, so a frisk was reasonable for officer safety. Looking at the serial number and then running it to see … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Asking questions while writing out a warning ticket do not measurably extend a stop
Asking questions while writing out a warning ticket do not measurably extend a stop. United States v. Green, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4421 (W.D. Ky. Jan. 10, 2020). Defendant’s arrest was valid, so his statement wasn’t fruit of the poisonous … Continue reading
DE: Question about “Anything illegal in the car: Human beings, guns, drugs, dead bodies in the trunk” wasn’t unreasonable and didn’t measurably extend the stop.
Officer’s routine question about “Anything illegal in the car: Human beings, guns, drugs, dead bodies in the trunk” wasn’t unreasonable and didn’t measurably extend the stop. State v. Medina, 2020 Del. Super. LEXIS 18 (Jan. 7, 2020):
E.D.Pa.: Furtive movements and excessive nervousness when stopped was RS
Defendant’s furtive movements while driving and nervousness after the stop justified extending the stop for fear there might be a weapon. United States v. Miller, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 224424 (E.D. Mo. Dec. 4, 2019).* The odor of alcohol, fumbling … Continue reading
S.D.Ohio: Lack of factual basis for stop deprives state of Heien mistake of law argument
The video from the patrol car doesn’t support the officer’s claim that defendant didn’t properly stop at a stop sign that that was the basis for the stop. The court doesn’t find Heien applies because this isn’t a mistake of … Continue reading
CO: After first SW for cell phone was suppressed for Franks violation, second was valid with independent source
Defendant was subjected to two search warrants for his cell phones in possession of the police. A motion to suppress the first search was granted because the officer recklessly included false information that deprived it of probable cause. The police … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: Using drug dog in the patrol car didn’t prolong the stop
There was a factual basis for the stop, and the drug dog at hand did not prolong the stop. After the alert, defendant then consented to the search of the vehicle. United States v. Navarro, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3062 … Continue reading
C.D.Ill.: Seemingly idle questions during a traffic stop didn’t unreasonably extend it in any “measurable way”
Seemingly idle questions during a traffic stop didn’t unreasonably extend it in any “measurable way.” United States v. Goodwill, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1831 (C.D. Ill. Jan. 3, 2020):
S.D.Ga.: Stopping writing traffic ticket to ask about drugs without RS violated Rodriguez
The officer’s intentional delaying issuance of a traffic ticket was to ask about transporting drugs, even though only 100 seconds, was unreasonable under Rodriguez because it was an intentional deviation from the mission of the stop. United States v. Brinson, … Continue reading
GA: Smell of alcohol on person maybe a minor walking in a high crime area wasn’t RS
“Further, the other facts identified by the State do not support a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity. None of C.B.’s described activities—walking on the side of the road at night, being present in a high-crime area, wearing a backpack, and … Continue reading
NM: Officer’s inferences for RS don’t require certainty
Reasonable suspicion was found here on the totality from experience, logical inferences, and the high-crime nature of the area where it was going on. “[W]hile it was possible Martinez’s conduct was innocuous, Officer Garrison was not required to wait until … Continue reading
D.Neb.: Handcuffing on RS to assure safety and maintain the status quo reasonable and not a de facto arrest
Handcuffing a person on reasonable suspicion just to protect the officer’s safety and maintain the status quo is not unreasonable. United States v. Mayfield, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 520 (D. Neb. Jan. 3, 2020). While the exclusionary rule can apply … Continue reading
IL: High crime area plus quick furtive movements to floor was RS and suggested a weapon to officer
High drug crime area plus quick furtive movements to floor that suggested to the officer that defendant was concealing a weapon was reasonable suspicion. People v. Hood, 2019 IL App (1st) 162194, 2019 Ill. App. LEXIS 1012 (Dec. 31, 2019). … Continue reading
IN: Bulging pockets on motorcyclist’s vest was safety concern for officer after passenger fled
Defendant’s frisk was reasonable. His motorcycle was stopped, and his female passenger fled. He was wearing a vest with bulging pockets. Although he didn’t run, the officer who remained with him was concerned about his pockets “bulging” and his potentially … Continue reading
IL: Def had done nothing wrong; RS could not be based on reaching for pocket when officer asked for DL
Defendant’s patdown was not justified by reasonable suspicion because defendant was a random person at a gas pump, he answered the officer’s questions, did not try to flee, and reached for his pocket as the officer asked for his driver’s … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Report of partricularly described man waving pink semi-auto justified stopping def getting on bus
A “concerned citizen’s” report of a particularly described man waving a pink semi-auto handgun was given to an officer on patrol who drove up the street and found defendant minutes later. The officer approached defendant to keep him from getting … Continue reading