Archives
-
Recent Posts
- W.D.Pa.: Def can’t repackage a losing 4A standing claim into a due process claim
- GA: No case says SW required to ask for cell phone password
- VA: Body cam video of valid arrest would not be suppressed
- NM: Trial court’s finding of consent is reversed because the court engaged in its own internet investigation beyond what the parties provided
- Reason: No Warrant, No Suspicion, No Problem: Flock and Border Cellphone Searches Excluded From 4th Amendment Rules
-
Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
Section 1983 Blog -
"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)
-
“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: Stop and frisk
Stop and frisk created by SCOTUS 49 years ago today
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), was decided 49 years ago today, June 2d. The stop and frisk occurred on October 31, 1963. The Ohio Court of Appeals Eighth District opinion is interesting for its historical value: State v. … Continue reading
IN: Anonymous report of man with gun wouldn’t alone support frisk, but def fled
Police received an anonymous tip that a man matching defendant’s description had a gun in a bar. The officer arrived right after the call and saw defendant. Under state case law, that alone wasn’t enough for a frisk without more. … Continue reading
OH8: Citizen’s warning of sobriety checkpoints in Parma, Ohio was protected speech and not obstruction of governmental business
Defendant’s actions of having a sign and warning people of a sobriety checkpoint did not amount to obstruction of official business, so his arrest was unjustified. Ohio practice requires the police to warn of sobriety checkpoints, too. City of Parma … Continue reading
Two car and person searches suppressed for lack of RS
The USMJ “reasonably determined that although there was probable cause to stop the car in which Linaman was traveling for possible traffic violations, …, Deputy Tadlock prolonged the stop beyond the time reasonably required to investigate those violations and without … Continue reading
N.D.N.Y.: Def’s prior drug involvement justified a drug search condition on supervised release
Defendant’s prior convictions for drugs from age 17-22 justified a drug search condition on supervised release. United States v. Betsy-Jones, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75157 (N.D. N.Y. April 28, 2017), adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74113 (N.D. N.Y. May 16, … Continue reading
IL: Because def’s car matched description of a stolen car, it was reasonable to handcuff def
Considering that the vehicle defendant was stopped in matched the description of a stolen car, it was reasonable for the officer to handcuff him. People v. Richardson, 2017 IL App (1st) 130203-B, 2017 Ill. App. LEXIS 314 (May 12, 2017). … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Officer came to def’s house on a domestic call and had no RS def was armed; frisk invalid
Responding to a domestic call, the officer met defendant at the door and he was compliant and holding a bag. There was no reason to believe that defendant was armed, but a stop and frisk was done, actually finding a … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Just because the officer had “unquestioned command of the situation” during a traffic stop doesn’t preclude conducting a frisk for weapons
Just because the officer had “unquestioned command of the situation” during a traffic stop doesn’t preclude the officer from conducting a frisk for weapons. Here, the stop was at night, in a high crime area, there were only streetlights, and … Continue reading
CA11: “Armed and dangerous” report on def was enough for a patdown
The officer had reasonable suspicion for a patdown based on a BOLO for defendant that he was armed and dangerous. Defendant wasn’t in custody when he was asked about where the gun was. United States v. Hogan, 2017 U.S. App. … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: If an inventory is otherwise valid, it doesn’t matter that it also had an investigative purpose
Defendant’s cell phone was seized from his car after a stop. If an inventory is otherwise valid, it doesn’t matter that it also had an investigative purpose. A search warrant was sought for the cell phone. The affidavit for the … Continue reading
CA11: When one in a group in a high crime area flinches on seeing the police, others with him are subject to investigative detention
Officers approached a group of men standing in a high crime area, and one of them flinched on seeing the police. That was reasonable suspicion as to him and at least permitted a brief detention of the others in the … Continue reading
IL: Frisk depends on RS def is armed, not just committing some nebulous offense
“We reject defendant’s argument he was seized when officer Harrold requested he remove his hands from his pockets and conclude defendant was not seized until officer Harrold frisked him.” … “Accordingly, a police officer must have reasonable suspicion the individual … Continue reading
W.D.Tenn.: Because ‘guns and drugs go together,’ faint smell of MJ plus furtive movement justified frisk
Defendant was stopped for a cracked windshield, which it clearly was. “Ordering Henderson to step out of the car was only a de minimis intrusion of his personal liberty, and it did not violate his Fourth Amendment rights.” “Officer Putman … Continue reading
IA: A claim of officer safety has to be objectively justified by the record; Rodriguez followed under state constitution
Iowa adopts Rodriguez under state constitution after a lengthy comparison of its own cases and cases from around the country. A claim of officer safety has to be objectively justified by the record; merely stating it doesn’t make it so. … Continue reading
MD: A stop and a frisk have separate constitutional justifications; courts must confine Terry to its 4A mooring
This Terry stop failed reasonable suspicion and all tenets of Terry. [Subtext: Police are abusing Terry, and the courts have to control them.] Ames v. State, 2017 Md. App. LEXIS 121 (Feb. 3, 2017) (Moylan, J.) (caution: The Lexis version … Continue reading
OH6: Because OH limits minor misdemeanor searches more than the 4A, search of def because of marijuana flakes on shirt was unreasonable
Defendant was a passenger in a vehicle stopped for suspicion the driver had a suspended DL because of a computer check. Defendant was made to get out of the vehicle despite being blind. The officer noted marijuana flakes on his … Continue reading
OH5: Fire inspector’s violation of city agreement to give notice before inspections warranted his firing
Jeffries complained that he was subjected to arbitrary and invasive fire inspections, and the city agreed to give him prior notice. Lanzer, however, violated that agreement and was fired by the city. “However, as stated above, the City of Louisville … Continue reading
MD: Trial court erred in suppressing virtual replay of Wardlow
Officers approached a group of men on the street in a high crime area telling them to stay put and not run. Defendant, however, sprinted away. Two officers were on bikes and caught up to him, and he admitted he … Continue reading
CA7: RS of drugs in a backpack was justification for frisk for gun; taking key to do a protective sweep of apt before seeking consent was valid on this record
Defendant’s frisk for weapons was justified because there was reasonable suspicion he had drugs in a backpack that had been deposited in an apartment, which defendant lied about going to. Drugs and firearms “go hand in hand,” (See, e.g., United … Continue reading