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- CA4: Cell phone non-forensic border search doesn’t require individualized suspicion
- ND: Probation search of cell phone was reasonable
- 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)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (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
D.Minn.: This wasn’t a case of guilt by association for being near a drug dealer; officers reasonably believed drug deal occurred
This was not a case of mere propinquity to a drug dealer causing defendant’s frisk. Based on the officer’s training and experience, the officers could fairly conclude that there was a drug deal going on and not just a casual … Continue reading
TX14: Drug house was under virtual surveillance for 30 years; def’s coming and going in seconds was a start to follow him
“There is a well-known drug house in Houston where law enforcement has been making drug busts for more than thirty years. Appellant approached that drug house when police were surveilling it as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation. An undercover … Continue reading
E.D.La.: No PC or RS for def’s stop and frisk
Under the totality of circumstances, the officer lacked both probable cause and reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop. United States v. Muse, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 209817 (E.D. La. Dec. 12, 2018)*:
KY: License plate reader alert justified stop
A license plate reader told the officer that defendant’s car insurance needed to be verified because it was not on file, and that was a reasonable basis for the stop. Lynem v. Commonwealth, 2018 Ky. App. LEXIS 299 (Dec. 7, … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: CI on the controlled buy wasn’t an “active participant” in the crime
The CI’s participation in the controlled buy that led to a search warrant doesn’t make the CI an “active participant” in the crime where that’s only the basis for issuance of the warrant and it’s not a separate charge. United … Continue reading
IN: A search waiver condition “without a warrant and without probable cause” still requires RS
A search waiver condition “without a warrant and without probable cause” still requires reasonable suspicion. Jarman v. State, 2018 Ind. App. LEXIS 445 (Nov. 30, 2018). Window tinting that covered the back window brake light was a traffic violation justifying … Continue reading
NE: For Rodriguez purposes, it doesn’t matter that the stop was at a gas station and not on the side of the road
Defendant’s reasonable detention pre-dog sniff was at a gas station and not on the side of the road. That doesn’t change the constitutional calculus. State v. Ferguson, 301 Neb. 697 (Nov. 30, 2018). “Here, the Court finds the warrant described … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: Trial objection was 5A and Miranda; 4A claim waived and can’t be raised post-trial
Defendant’s trial objection was based on Miranda and the Fifth Amendment. No Fourth Amendment claim was made so it is waived and post trial briefing is too late. United States v. Horton, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 201898 (E.D. N.C. Nov. … Continue reading
CA9: Police get a 911 call that def is yelling and threatening somebody in house; exigency based entry justified after talking to him
Police get a 911 call that a man was yelling and screaming at and threatening somebody, and they come to the house. At the door, defendant admits that he was because he was stressed out about “issues.” He also admitted … Continue reading
CA10: A notice to appear in court is not a seizure for false arrest purposes
Giving plaintiff a notice to appear in court is not a seizure for false arrest purposes. Leon v. Summit County, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 33349 (10th Cir. Nov. 28, 2018). The information from the CI was detailed, down to a … Continue reading
CA9: SW for stolen property in def’s house wasn’t stale despite it being a month
Defendant’s thumb print on a beer can found in a burglarized house was a reasonable inference he was involved. The search warrant for his house for stolen property wasn’t stale because it was reasonable to believe he would still be … Continue reading
TX4: Visitor’s property searched during SW for premises is governed by possession test: was the person in actual possession at the time?
Texas follows the possession test for searches of personal belongings of visitors found during a search of premises. Thus, defendant’s purse was not in her actual personal possession at the time of the entry and searches, so it was not … Continue reading
E.D.Tex.: Body cam video showed consent was voluntary
Consent was voluntary: “As seen in the video, Defendant was calm, aware, and able to answer questions cogently. During his testimony, Defendant admitted that at the time of his arrest, Defendant knew he faced serious drug charges for the drugs … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: There was a reasonable inference def’s house had his cell phones
The search warrant for cell phones was based on a reasonable inference that they’d be found in defendant’s house, and the search of his house and person were justified. “Herein, it was reasonable for the magistrate to infer that the … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Def couldn’t show that hotel room was searched without a warrant by the information off the electronic lock which was unreliable
Defendant alleges that officers searched his LV hotel room before the search warrant arrived. The information from the electronic lock is not reliable [so there, CSI] as to the entries into the room, and the search warrant is valid. United … Continue reading
LA3: No REP in a jail call to spouse
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a jail call to defendant’s wife. State v. Ducote, 2018 La. App. LEXIS 2297 (La. App. 3 Cir. Nov. 15, 2018).* No reasonable suspicion for extending a stop for no proof of … Continue reading
OH11: No RS that a cigarette case contained a weapon to justify opening it
Opening a small metal box that was apparently a cigarette case was unreasonable because there was no reasonable suspicion that it contained a weapon. State v. Luther, 2018-Ohio-4568, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 4887 (11th Dist. Nov. 13, 2018). Defendant’s guilty … Continue reading
AK: Search of def’s rifle case was unreasonable; he was doing nothing wrong
When defendant was stopped, the officer asked whether he had a firearm, which should have been obvious because there was a rifle case visible in the car. Defendant looked at the gun and reached to the case. The court finds … Continue reading
OR: A bulge in def’s pocket was not RS for a patdown without more
The officer articulated no reason for the officer safety exception for searching defendant’s pockets. A bulge in defendant’s clothing was not enough. State v. Leach, 294 Ore. App. 639 (Nov. 2, 2018). “[W]e have held that the lawfulness of the … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Officers called to noise complaint could ask for ID even though noise had stopped
Officers investigating a noise complaint ended up talking to defendant in a parked car. They could ask for his DL despite the noise having abated. While that was going on, one officer could see marijuana hidden under the edge of … Continue reading