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- 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
- Reason: Flock’s Gunfire Alerts Raise a New Fourth Amendment Question
- N.D.Ohio: Car in driveway was on curtilage and plain view prohibited
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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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)
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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: Stop and frisk
CA7: Running warrants on stopped panhandlers was reasonable
Chicago PD officers stopped panhandlers and ran warrants once they had their IDs. “We conclude that officers may execute a name check on an individual incidental to a proper stop under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 88 S. … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Controlled buy is PC; CI’s alleged lie isn’t Franks issue
A controlled buy was probable cause. The claim that the CI lied isn’t cognizable under Franks. United States v. Sheridan, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36163 (N.D. Ohio. Mar. 3, 2020). There were disputed questions of fact on whether it was … Continue reading
Appeal.org: Commentary: The Enduring Trauma of Stop-and-Frisk
Appeal.org: Commentary: The Enduring Trauma of Stop-and-Frisk by Jamal Trulove (“As a Black child in San Francisco, I learned early that mine and others’ bodies meant nothing to those supposedly tasked with our protection.”)
IN: Having def manipulate his clothing and remove his shoes was a search, not a safety frisk for weapons
The search of defendant was not for officer safety where the officer told defendant to move his clothing around because, if he was armed, he would be putting his hands on the weapon. The order to remove his shoes also … Continue reading
D.Me.: Govt failed to prove frisk was for safety reasons; it was really a search for drugs without RS
The officers didn’t testify to a safety reason for a frisk, and the dashcam video did not support it either. Moreover, this was not a frisk for weapons; it was a search for drugs and it was without reasonable suspicion. … Continue reading
WaPo: Mike Bloomberg ignored early evidence that ‘stop-and-frisk’ could be racially biased
WaPo: Mike Bloomberg ignored early evidence that ‘stop-and-frisk’ could be racially biased by Victor Ray:
CA9: When arresting a vehicle passenger on a felony warrant, a frisk of others in the car is permissible for officer safety
When executing a felony arrest warrant on an occupant of a car, frisking companions in the car is reasonable for officer safety. United States v. Abbassi, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 3575 (9th Cir. Feb. 4, 2020). “In her informal brief … Continue reading
D.C.App. discusses “automatic companion” rule but concludes it doesn’t apply
The D.C. Court of Appeals discusses the scope of the automatic companion rule and finds that it doesn’t have to decide that issue here. There was reasonable suspicion for the companion’s patdown. Jenkins v. District of Columbia, 2020 D.C. App. … Continue reading
MA: Def’s frisk during his traffic stop was unjustified and unreasonable
The granting of defendant’s motion to suppress is affirmed. Although the stop of his vehicle was proper, his frisk was improper as was the search of his car which was based on the results of the improper frisk. Defendant’s actions … Continue reading
NYTimes: ‘I Was Wrong,’ Bloomberg Says. But This Policy Still Haunts Him.
NYTimes: ‘I Was Wrong,’ Bloomberg Says. But This Policy Still Haunts Him. By Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Joseph Goldstein (“After defending the stop-and-frisk policing tactic, the former mayor apologized. But black voters in the Democratic presidential race may not forgive … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: Def’s frisk was based on guilt by association and wasn’t for safety purposes
Defendant’s friend was involved in passing counterfeit $20 bills in a casino as viewed on video. The government, however, had no reasonable suspicion that defendant was actually involved in the scheme, so his frisk was unreasonable. Defendant’s frisk was investigatory … Continue reading
NY2: Pawnbrokers are “pervasively regulated” under 4A
Pawnbrokers are “pervasively regulated” for consumer protection. City of Los Angeles v. Patel is way different because that industry was not so regulated. Collateral Loanbrokers Assn. of N.Y., Inc. v City of New York, 2019 NY Slip Op 09354, 2019 … Continue reading
S.D.Tex.: Anonymous 911 call brought police to local store; seizures and patdowns were without RS
An anonymous 911 call about suspicious men in a small town store brought police. Because the town was small, it was easy to identify strangers, and the officers encountered them inside the store and brought them out. Ultimately there was … Continue reading
IN: Frisk was justified by RS, but “ball” in pocket wasn’t plain feel
The officer was observing defendant and suspected he’d be engaged in a drug transaction. Finally there was a patdown, and in defendant’s pocket was a small ball of something, which the officer reached for. It was obvious it was not … Continue reading
D.N.M.: A SW for CP doesn’t need to be limited to only devices on the premises police think were used; all can be searched
In a search warrant for child pornography, the warrant does not have to attempt to be limited to the only devices that the officers think downloaded the images; all devices on the premises can be searched, following codefendant’s case, United … Continue reading
FL1: Patdown for drugs permitted cutting hole in def’s underwear to retrieve that which wouldn’t fall out
The officer smelled the strong odor in defendant’s car and got him out. There was the strong odor on defendant’s person, too. A patdown revealed a lump under defendant’s shorts. The officer tried to shake it loose and couldn’t. He … Continue reading
DC: Telling def to put his hands on the wall for a patdown was a seizure and wasn’t consensual
Telling defendant to put his hands against the wall and assume the position for a patdown was a seizure, and here it was without probable cause. It was not consensual. Dozier v. United States, 2019 D.C. App. LEXIS 495 (Dec. … Continue reading
The Hour: ‘Stop-and-frisk’ can work, under careful supervision
The Hour: ‘Stop-and-frisk’ can work, under careful supervision by Henry F. Fradella:
E.D.N.C.: “[R]easonable suspicion need not rule out the possibility of innocent conduct.” Navarette
A brief meeting for what could only be described by the officer, in his experience, was likely a hand-to-hand sale in a high crime area reasonable suspicion for a stop. “Other suggested explanations by defendant, such as that defendant may … Continue reading
MI: 4A not violated by taking of fingerprints and photographs during a Terry stop
Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights were not violated by police officers taking their photographs and fingerprints based on reasonable suspicion during valid Terry stops, because plaintiffs had no reasonable expectation of privacy in physical characteristics that were constantly exposed to the … Continue reading