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Recent Posts
- CA8: Admission of anonymous tip that led to stop violated Confrontation Clause
- CO: Anonymous report of student smoking pot in school justified backpack search
- CA6: CI’s lie to get into def’s house to video him making a drug deal with the CI didn’t violate 4A
- TN: Def lived in a van left wide open in a public area, but it didn’t belong to him, so no REP as to interior
- VI: Despite ubiquity of cell phones, nexus has to be shown to alleged crime
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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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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (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: Warrant requirement
D.Kan.: Failure to sign affidavit for SW after being sworn not a Fourth Amendment violation
The failure of the officer to sign the affidavit after he was sworn did not void the warrant. It actually was issued on “oath or affirmation.” United States v. Williamson, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77703 (D. Kan. March 18, 2014), … Continue reading
CA7: “[T]the Fourth Amendment is not a bulwark against typos.”
DNA warrant for defendant that transposed month and day (11-01 v. 01-11) using military and international convention was still for him. “[T]the Fourth Amendment is not a bulwark against typos.” United States v. Clark, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 10613 (7th … Continue reading
WSJ: Sealed Court Files Obscure Rise in Electronic Surveillance
WSJ: Sealed Court Files Obscure Rise in Electronic Surveillance by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries: Data obtained by The Wall Street Journal from the Justice Department and various federal district courts suggest that electronic-surveillance orders have increased over the past decade and that … Continue reading
WaPo: E-mail privacy hasn’t been updated in 28 years. This could be the bill to do it.
WaPo: E-mail privacy hasn’t been updated in 28 years. This could be the bill to do it. by Brian Fung: Thanks to a law that was written before “Robocop,” law enforcement agencies are allowed to poke around inside your e-mail … Continue reading
CA9: Applying a functional reasonableness analysis, the 21 day delay in getting a SW after computer seizure was reasonable
In a child pornography case, defendant’s computer was held for 21 days before a search warrant was obtained, and he moved to suppress. On the totality, the court finds the delay reasonable and did not substantially interfere with defendant’s possessory … Continue reading
WI: Consent to a BAC test overcomes McNeeley
Consent to a BAC test overcomes McNeeley. State v. Padley, 2014 Wisc. App. LEXIS 414 (May 22, 2014). Defendant’s not dimming his lights for a parked patrol vehicle was not a traffic offense, so his stop was invalid. State v. … Continue reading
Cincinnati.com: Pants full of candy erupts into legal battle; SW for PD’s office
Cincinnati.com: Pants full of candy erupts into legal battle by Kimball Perry: A Hamilton County theft case involving a man who stuffed $200 worth of candy in his pants erupted into a heated legal battle that has left defense attorneys … Continue reading
TX4 follows TX7 and TX13 and holds warrantless blood draw violates McNeely
TX4 follows TX7 and TX13 and holds warrantless blood draw violates McNeely. Weems v. State, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5109 (Tex. App.–San Antonio May 14, 2014): We agree with both the Amarillo [Sutherland v. State, No. 07-12-00289-CR, 2014 Tex. App. … Continue reading
W.D.Tex.: Failure to show SW is not a Fourth Amendment violation
2255 petitioner did not show that he was prejudiced by officers showing up at 5:30 am rather than 6 for execution of a search warrant, if that in fact happened. Rule 41 violations are ministerial, it doesn’t per se violate … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: The reality of Gates-Leon: Showing no PC is an uphill battle
Recognizing the reality of Gates-Leon: “the Defendant challenges whether the Magistrate Judge should have issued the warrant at all based on the information presented in the agent’s affidavit. This argument faces difficult legal standards, which the Defendant cannot meet. His … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: Scrivener’s error in time of issuance of SW is corrected
The time of the warrant of 10:31 pm was clearly a scrivener’s error because it was issued at 9:31 pm. Therefore, the search warrant did not issue after the search began, and the motion to suppress is denied. United States … Continue reading
N.D.Idaho: SW application is for evidence to be found, not to implicate a target
In a business records search, the question is probable cause to believe evidence will be found, and it isn’t necessary for the search warrant affidavit to implicate a possible target of the search to be valid. United States v. Suarez, … Continue reading
KLAS TV: I-Team: Do police seek search warrant friendly judges?
KLAS TV: I-Team: Do police seek search warrant friendly judges? by Glen Meek: LAS VEGAS — Could police be playing favorites when it comes to getting search warrants signed by local magistrates? An I-Team investigation shows one judge has signed … Continue reading
OR: Search of home requires more than just PC; there must be a warrant or warrant exception
Defendant argued the search of her bedroom was without consent, therefore invalid. The trial court found probable cause and sustained the search. Reversed: Without an exception to the warrant requirement, the search was invalid, and the state argues none. State … Continue reading
WaPo: Apple, Facebook, others defy authorities, notify users of secret data demands
WaPo: Apple, Facebook, others defy authorities, notify users of secret data demands by Craig Timberg: Major U.S. technology companies have largely ended the practice of quietly complying with investigators’ demands for e-mail records and other online data, saying that users … Continue reading
TX6: DUI blood draw without warrant here violated 4A
The taking of defendant’s blood without a warrant violated McNeely. “In light of the United States Supreme Court’s remand of Aviles and in light of the reasoning in Villarreal and Sutherland, we conclude that, in the absence of a warrant … Continue reading
Blacklisted.com: Police Mag: Fourth Amendment Is a “Hassle”
Blacklisted.com: Police Mag: Fourth Amendment Is a “Hassle” You have to reign in your natural hunter’s instinct and take the time to get a search warrant. There’s the affidavit of probable cause to compose, the warrant form to fill out, … Continue reading
WaPo: Low-level federal judges balking at law enforcement requests for electronic evidence
WaPo: Low-level federal judges balking at law enforcement requests for electronic evidence by Ann E. Marimow and Craig Timberg: Judges at the lowest levels of the federal judiciary are balking at sweeping requests by law enforcement officials for cellphone and … Continue reading