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- CA3: Ptf was arrested on an apparent but recalled warrant, then officers confirmed it and let him go; the arrest was reasonable
- N.D.Ohio: Failure to serve state SW within state mandated time not 4A violation
- NY1: Gunshot through floor from apartment above was exigency
- Reason: Most Civil Forfeiture Victims Never See the Inside of a Courtroom
- CA8: Admission of anonymous tip that led to stop violated Confrontation Clause
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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)
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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: Qualified immunity
E.D.Tenn.: SW for a cell phone includes the SD card in it
A search warrant for a cell phone includes the SD card in it. United States v. Glatz, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114963 (E.D. Tenn. July 5, 2023). A jury question on probable cause to arrest remained, and that avoids qualified … Continue reading
CA7: Sexual assault under color of law can state 4A claim under § 1983
A police ride-along with a student led to a sexual assault § 1983 suit. “It is well established that sexual assault by a government official acting under color of law violates the Constitution. Cases from different circuits have relied on … Continue reading
RI: Exigency of hot pursuit in a homicide case made pinging cell phone reasonable
Despite Carpenter saying it is limited to historical CSLI, this court concludes there is no meaningful difference between real-time and historical CSLI under Carpenter. Exigency, however, was real. The police were in hot pursuit seeking to question defendant for a … Continue reading
W.D.Mich.: Differing possessory interest claims in state and then federal court is estoppel
At a state show cause hearing, plaintiff disavowed any possessory or property interest in two pit bulls, so he’s estopped from claiming it in a § 1983 case over the dogs. Crandall v. Newaygo Cty., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104374 … Continue reading
D.V.I.: Flyover of curtilage from navigable airspace was reasonable
Officers did a flyover of defendant’s home from navigable airspace and saw a marijuana grow. While he had a subjective reasonable expectation of privacy in the curtilage, not from 2000′. United States v. Flavius, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92974 (D.V.I. … Continue reading
M.D.Ga.: No right to challenge SW before execution
It isn’t apparent that there’s a right to challenge a search warrant before it is executed. (Rule 17 covers motions to quash subpoenas.) Even if there was, defendant doesn’t carry his burden. United States v. Crumpton, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA6: Officer observing “forced” baptism of drug offender as 1A & 4A violation gets QI for failure to intervene
A police officer was also a preacher. After a marijuana arrest, he elected to baptize the offender in an Ohio lake. He called Goforth, another officer, to attend, and that officer video recorded it. Later, the offender sued for a … Continue reading
CA9: SW application made “under penalty of perjury” satisfies the “oath or affirmation” requirement
A search warrant application made “under penalty of perjury” satisfies the “oath or affirmation” requirement. United States v. Morrow, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 11933 (9th Cir. May 16, 2023). Defendant prevailed on the merits of his honest services wire fraud … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: Younger abstention bars suit over state prosecution and search
Plaintiff’s federal suit over his state search and prosecution is barred by Younger abstention. There’s no showing he can’t raise those issues in state court. Bailey v. City of Olympia Prosecutor, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80175 (W.D. Wash. May 8, … Continue reading
E.D.Wis.: “Whistleblower” is still a CI whose story must be corroborated
A business fraud “whistleblower”’s statement was too conclusory to show probable cause. Franks hearing granted. United States v. Schampers, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68205 (E.D. Wis. Apr. 19, 2023). Defendant was driving back and forth between Plattsburgh NY and Burlington … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Mislabeling SW attachments not worthy of exclusion
Accidental reverse numbering of Attachments A and B didn’t make the search warrant void. United States v. Deakins, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60866 (E.D. Tenn. Apr. 6, 2023).* Plaintiff’s claim that the Director of National Intelligence violates the Fourth Amendment … Continue reading
WA: Renter of hotel room could consent to search of room with co-occupants, but not of co-occupant’s stuff
“Here, Giberson was a guest in Goedker’s motel room. As a result, Goedker as the person renting the room had authority to give consent for law enforcement to search the room. … And even though Giberson was present, because he … Continue reading
OH7: Officer seeing sawed-off shotgun in car door justified questions under Quarles
Defendant was stopped and got out of his car, and in the door was a sawed off shotgun. Questions about the gun next to him were legitimate under Quarles. State v. Anderson, 2023-Ohio-945, 2023 Ohio App. LEXIS 922 (7th Dist. … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Three days of warrantless real time CSLI was reasonable because of exigency
Three days of real time CSLI was obtained by the police because of a missing child, and it was reasonable as exigency. United States v. Torres, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44017 (D.N.M. Mar. 15, 2023).* No qualified immunity for Tasing … Continue reading
WA: Stop to inquire of paying transit fare violated state constitution
Defendant’s freedom under the state constitution to not be interfered with in his private affairs was violated by a stop and inquiry whether he had paid a transit fare. He provided a false name that led to his prosecution for … Continue reading
CA5: Videos alone show no QI
Based on the videos alone, there was excessive force and qualified immunity is denied. Ducksworth v. Landrum, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 5807 (5th Cir. Mar. 10, 2023):
CA8: GFE applies to dog sniff at apt door before law changed
Defendant’s apartment door was subjected to a dog sniff at his apartment door before the court limited it in United States v. Perez, 46 F.4th 691 (8th Cir. 2022). The good faith exception applies. United States v. Hines, 2023 U.S. … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: 911 response to stabbing call had report of others inside; that was exigency
The officer arrived at plaintiff’s house because of a 911 call about a stabbing. A man who had been stabbed was outside and he said it happened inside and there were others. That justified the officer’s entry into the house. … Continue reading
CA9: “Clearly established law” in one sentence
“Cardenas has not identified any case holding that police officers violated the Fourth Amendment by making an arrest under similar circumstances, and we are not aware of any such case.” Cardenas v. Saladen, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 5091 (9th Cir. … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Key fob on parolee’s person means car under his control even if elsewhere
Defendant parolee was a passenger in a car and he had his car key fob on him. The car, albeit not there, was still “under his control” for a parole search, relying on United States v. Cervantes, 859 F.3d 1175 … Continue reading