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- CA4: Cell phone non-forensic border search doesn’t require individualized suspicion
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- Vanguard: SF Court Dismisses Felony Charges after Judge Finds Racial Bias Tainted SFPD Stop and Arrest
- 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
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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
OH5: Trial court erred in holding def couldn’t be ordered out of car without RS
The trial court erred in holding that the state trooper had no reason to order defendant out of her car, and the inquiry stopped there. Under Mimms, however, it’s entirely under the officer’s discretion. When he stopped her, her pants … Continue reading
D.Me.: Arrest outside master bedroom of known drug house justified protective sweep of bedroom
Defendant arrested 8′ from master bedroom in a house known for drug activity justified a protective sweep of the bedroom. United States v. Pemberton, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146615 (D. Me. May 17, 2019),* adopted, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145167 … Continue reading
W.D.La.: Reasonable suspicion in part on a lie caught by a LPN reader
Louisiana tracks the LPNs of vehicles crossing from Texas on I-10. Defendant was stopped for a traffic offense and lied about his travels saying he came from within Louisiana. During their interaction, he became way more nervous. There was reasonable … Continue reading
CA10: Dist Ct credited that defendant was “unusually nervous” rather than just “nervous” as a contributing factor to RS
The district court credited that defendant was “unusually nervous” rather than just “nervous” as a contributing factor to reasonable suspicion. Defendant was stopped for a traffic offense, and the officer asked for consent to search. Defendant asked what would happen … Continue reading
NC: Giving cop the finger was RS for stop for disorderly conduct, despite it being recognized free speech
Giving a cop the finger, although universally now recognized as protected speech, was reasonable suspicion for a stop for disorderly conduct. [The dissent has the far better argument, here. The majority is just wrong, and cites cases that prove it.] … Continue reading
OH8: Cell phone not ordered returned because of its potential use in evidence
Defendant’s cell phone was still potential evidence in his retrial, so it won’t be ordered returned to him. State v. Metz, 2019-Ohio-3370, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 3440 (8th Dist. Aug. 22, 2019). Officers approached defendant’s house for a welfare check, … Continue reading
ND: Pole camera surveillance caught def frequenting a trailer park known for drug sales; he was stopped there with RS
Reasonable suspicion existed to detain defendant for coming into a trailer park known for its drug sales. Police had a pole camera set up recording comings and goings, and defendant had been there multiple times before. On the totality of … Continue reading
CA9: Riley no basis for successor habeas
A successor habeas isn’t a way to raise a Riley cell phone search claim. Young v. Pfeiffer, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 23923 (9th Cir. Aug. 22, 2019). There was reasonable suspicion to continue the detention from unusual nervousness, inconsistent stories … Continue reading
M.D.Ga.: Def handcuffed for officer safety was unMirandized, and his statement admitting to gun that led to search for it suppresses both
Officers had a right during a traffic stop to check criminal history, and that legitimately led to finding defendant’s search waiver. The Georgia search waiver is not complete, however, and more stringent than the one in Samson. He was handcuffed … Continue reading
D.Kan.: In a wiretap case, resort to SWs would tip off the targets to the investigation, so they need not be relied upon first
Defendant challenges his wiretap because the investigators could have conducted more searches with warrants. Search warrants, however, are known to the targets: “However, the Court also credits the Government’s concern that isolated search warrants might have alerted the organization to … Continue reading
D.Mass.: Def was on supervised release with a reasonable searches condition, and his CP search was reasonable with that and a SW
Defendant had previously been convicted of child pornography, and he had lifetime supervision with a “reasonable” search condition. Despite that, officers got a search warrant for his house and computers for another such offense. First, there was justification for a … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: A parked car is still subject to automobile exception
The automobile exception applied to an already parked car because it’s still “mobile” for exigency purposes. United States v. Mizell, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138171 (N.D. Ga. July 29, 2019), adopted, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137988 (N.D. Ga. Aug. 15, … Continue reading
CA7: On thin showing of PC, affidavit’s omissions gets a Franks hearing
(1) The probable cause here was thin, and it was based on a CI’s credibility. The officer omitted important information to the CI’s credibility. This entitles him to at least a Franks hearing on remand. (2) A photograph of the … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: Warrantless entry to prevent destruction of evidence pending SW was reasonable
A warrantless protective sweep before obtaining a search warrant to prevent possible destruction of evidence was reasonable. A search warrant was later obtained [inevitable discovery]. United States v. Beazel, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136901 (N.D. W.Va. Aug. 14, 2019).* The … Continue reading
OH5: RS existed for traffic stop despite fact the sign wasn’t high enough under the traffic code
The officer had reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop despite the fact the sign he ignored wasn’t the proper height under the motor vehicle code. State v. Norman, 2019-Ohio-3242, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 3331 (5th Dist. Aug. 12, 2019).* Reasonable suspicion … Continue reading
TX3: Finding drugs on the driver is PC to search the car
Finding drugs on the person during a lawful stop and search of the person provides probable cause to search the car. State v. Pena, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 7015 (Tex. App. – Austin Aug. 13, 2019). The search warrant legitimately … Continue reading
CA11: Ptf’s excessive force claim overcomes QI; his facts show clearly established law violated
Defendants were properly denied qualified immunity in using excessive force to arrest plaintiff. Plaintiff’s version of the facts showed clearly established rights were violated. Heck v. Humphrey didn’t apply because plaintiff wasn’t seeking to attack his conviction. Cendan v. Trujillo, … Continue reading
Cal.4: Flight alone isn’t RS; the innocent may flee, too
Flight alone isn’t reasonable suspicion on the totality. More is required, and here there wasn’t any. Flight alone is not reasonable suspicion because innocent people may flee for fear of being caught up in something they didn’t do. People v. … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: 30 minute delay before warrantless entry with a key in learning all they could didn’t nullify exigency
The officers’ delay of 30 minutes or less before entering on exigent circumstances was not unreasonable. They were actively investigating, gathering information, and didn’t want to act precipitously. “The officers concluded as much investigation as they could on an immediate … Continue reading
OH2: No RS for stop of driver parked in car in Wendy’s parking lot at 1pm that others came up to
There was no reasonable suspicion of drug activity with defendant’s car in a Wendy’s parking lot at 1 pm. An anonymous caller concerned about “drug activity” called the police and reported that people walked up to the car, talked to … Continue reading