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- CA4: Cell phone non-forensic border search doesn’t require individualized suspicion
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- 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)
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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.: Stop of wrong man on mistaken identity was objectively reasonable
Officers approached the defendant reasonably believing he was somebody else, and he ran. When they finally caught him and rolled him over, they realized they had the wrong person. Nevertheless, the stop was objectively reasonable despite mistaken identity. United States … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Rodriguez doesn’t start to apply until the stop occurs
Defendant was surveilled in a funeral home at a funeral, and he was stopped later. Rodriguez does not apply before the stop actually occurred. United States v. Thompson, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185267 (W.D. Ky. Oct. 30, 2018). “Such specific … Continue reading
CA7 also affirms Playpen warrant on PC and GFE
As with every other circuit, the Seventh Circuit affirms a Playpen warrant on probable cause and good faith exception. United States v. Kienast, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 29887 (7th Cir. Oct. 23, 2018).* Probable cause for the search warrant for … Continue reading
ME: Describing stolen tools by color and make was certainly particular as it could get
Stolen tools were described in the search warrant by color and make, and this was not unconstitutionally vague in the description just because other brands might have the same color scheme. “In this case, the search warrants identified the items … Continue reading
MI: Controlled buys and corroborated CI was PC
The trial court erred in suppressing the search under the search warrant. There were controlled buys and a corroborated informant, and that was enough for probable cause. People v. Higgins, 2018 Mich. App. LEXIS 3355 (Oct. 18, 2018). Defendant’s right … Continue reading
CA9: Casual conversation with a motorist isn’t barred by Rodriguez despite officer’s motive
Casual conversation with a motorist during a traffic stop isn’t prohibited by Rodriguez even though the officer is hoping to pick up on something supporting reasonable suspicion. United States v. Kash, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 29057 (9th Cir. Oct. 16, … Continue reading
N.D.Miss.: Officer’s credibility on cause for stop fails because the tag light was working and he couldn’t see in car
Officer’s testimony varied sufficiently from his reports of his reasonable suspicion for the stop and detention that it’s just unreliable. Motion to suppress granted. It apparently started with the justification for the stop as inoperable tag lights [how many times … Continue reading
IA: The facts showing RS can also add up to PC
The facts supporting reasonable suspicion to stop defendant were enough for probable cause, and add to that the fact defendant slowed down and tossed a baggie of marijuana from the car. Mention in a search warrant of a Nevada drug … Continue reading
DE animal control officers can get arrest warrants for animal offenses
Animal control officers in Delaware have the authority to obtain arrest warrants for animal control laws. Smith v. First State Animal Center, 2018 Del. Super. LEXIS 423 (Oct. 4, 2018).* Excessive window tinting justified the stop, and the officer didn’t … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Vehicle occupant’s “dipping motion” during stop was hiding something and RS
A vehicle occupant making a “dipping motion” when a stop occurs like they’re putting something on the floor or under the seat, either contraband or a weapon, is reasonable suspicion. United States v. Roberts, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161968 (E.D. … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Targetted burner phone ringing during stop on RS was PC for def’s arrest
CIs gave information that they bought drugs from a guy with a burner phone, and the phone was ultimately linked to defendant. Based on collective knowledge, the police had sufficient information for reasonable suspicion to stop and detain defendant. Defendant … Continue reading
AR: Cell phone search suppressed and state gets do over with independent source doctrine
Probable cause was shown for a search warrant for a cell phone for taking video of defendant’s daughters changing clothes under a door. The independent source doctrine permitted police to get a second search warrant for the phone after the … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: RS started here with def’s justification for his actions on being a DEA informant
Defendant was validly stopped for a turn signal violation. During the stop, reasonable suspicion developed starting with defendant volunteering he was a DEA informant. United States v. Jackson, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158598 (E.D. Ky. Sep. 18, 2018).* Defendant argued … Continue reading
OH9: Probable hand-to-hand drug deal from car was RS for stop
Potential hand-to-hand drug deal in a car was reasonable suspicion for a stop. It’s what these officers were always looking for. [It may have ultimately had an innocent explanation, but it looked like it to them.] State v. Dunlap, 2018-Ohio-3658, … Continue reading
W.D.Tenn.: Reasonable to block and stop a car that an officer thought had the subject of an arrest warrant in it
It was reasonable for the officer to block a car because he reasonably suspected that the person he wanted on an arrest warrant was in it and the honking of the car horn might have been a warning to others … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Entry was justified to arrest a wanted dangerous person
Defendant had standing as a guest in Commonwealth subsidized housing. The record wasn’t clear on how long he stayed there in total, but clearly at the time of the search. The occupant’s lease prohibited extended stay guests, but it also … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: People found in the backyard when SW executed subject to frisk
It was reasonable to patdown men found in the backyard of a house searched under a warrant. Ybarra distinguished. There was virtually reasonable suspicion as to anybody associated with the property. United States v. Cargill, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152038 … Continue reading
W.D.La.: Being asleep in a running car with a gun in lap is RS
Police found a car stopped with the engine running and the driver unconscious or asleep with a gun in his lap. That justified further inquiry, and the officer’s actions were with reasonable suspicion. The fact his hands came up without … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: Pre-Carpenter obtaining CSLI under SCA was valid under GFE
CSLI obtained in January 2017 via the Stored Communications Act were admissible after Carpenter via the good faith exception. United States v. Pleasant, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150406 (E.D. Pa. Sep. 5, 2018).* Defendant argued that the affidavit for the … Continue reading
NE: Def was stopped on street bloody and highly agitated; he was detained and then officers were going to transport him away from area but not arrest him; patdown validly produced brass knuckles
Police responded to a call and found defendant on the street, and he’d apparently been involved in an altercation. He and his hands were bloody and he was highly agitated. Ultimately, the police handcuffed him until he calmed down while … Continue reading