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- VI: Smell of MJ no longer PC in VI since legalization
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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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"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
Cato Institute: Qualified Immunity: A Legal, Practical, and Moral Failure
Cato Institute: Qualified Immunity: A Legal, Practical, and Moral Failure by Jay Schweikert (“Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that protects public officials from liability, even when they break the law. The doctrine has no valid legal basis, it regularly … Continue reading
CA5: Mistaken identity arrest for half brother with same name gets QI
Plaintiff’s case for a mistaken identity arrest when his half-brother with the same name was the target fails on qualified immunity. Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137 (1979) is close enough to show qualified immunity. Nerio v. Derekevans, 2020 U.S. … Continue reading
CA10: Ptf didn’t have to show officer his ID and that wasn’t PC for arrest
“Mglej’s refusal to provide Deputy Gardner with his driver’s license or some other form of identification, then, as Deputy Gardner demanded, did not create probable cause to arrest Mglej under Utah Code § 76-8-301.5(1). Thus, sufficient to defeat summary judgment, … Continue reading
CA2: Omissions from affidavit were material and denied QI
District court’s denial of qualified immunity affirmed. Omissions from the affidavit for the search warrant were material to the finding of probable cause. Pourkavoos v. Town of Avon, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 28183 (2d Cir. Sept. 3, 2020):
CA11: No QI for killing decedent for trying to grab Taser to stop Tasering
“This fatal shooting ‘lies so obviously at the very core of what the Fourth Amendment prohibits that the unlawfulness of the conduct was readily apparent’ even without a prior case on point.” No qualified immunity. Cantu v. City of Dothan, … Continue reading
pjmedia: Judge Denies Qualified Immunity for Kentucky Child Welfare Workers Who Illegally Strip-Searched Children
pjmedia: Judge Denies Qualified Immunity for Kentucky Child Welfare Workers Who Illegally Strip-Searched Children by Megan Fox:
NYTimes: How Reuters Analyzed Court Data on Qualified Immunity
NYTimes: How Reuters Analyzed Court Data on Qualified Immunity by Reuters:
CA6: Pleading false information used to get SW overcame QI at this stage
Pleading that defendants used false information to get a search warrant for them. That was enough to get around qualified immunity, and the district court erred in dismissing at this stage. Marvaso v. Sanchez, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26723 (6th … Continue reading
W.D.La.: Furtive conduct before getting in car justified stop of car
Defendant’s furtive activity before the stop observed on a parking lot and during the stop was reasonable suspicion. United States v. Pierre, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147127 (W.D. La. July 17, 2020).* Defendant admitted to there being drugs in the … Continue reading
CA2: Ebola quarantine order is entitled to QI under the 4A essentially for lack of a case on point
An Ebola quarantine order is entitled to qualified immunity under the Fourth Amendment essentially for lack of a case on point that it could be unreasonable. Liberian Cmty. Ass’n of Conn. v. Lamont, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25804 (2d Cir. … Continue reading
CA6: Alleged false statement to get an arrest warrant overcame QI
Alleged false statement to get an arrest warrant overcame qualified immunity. Tlapanco v. Elges, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25595 (6th Cir. Aug. 12, 2020). The state failed to show exigent circumstances excused obtaining a search warrant for defendant’s BAC. Commonwealth … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Ptf’s claim he was held past his sentence expiring stated a 4A claim
Plaintiff’s claim he was held in jail past his sentence expiration date survives summary judgment as a Fourth Amendment claim. Barrese v. Las Vegas Metro. Police Dep’t, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143360 (D. Nev. Aug. 10, 2020). The trial court … Continue reading
CA9: It was well established that “illegal presence” in the U.S. was not a crime, so ptf’s arrest was unreasonable
Illegal entry is a crime, but not mere presence, and that was well established since 2012. Defendant’s arrest of plaintiff in a courtroom as a witness on suspicion of being here illegally at the request of a JP was unreasonable. … Continue reading
CA8: Ptf’s takedown was reasonable for his not responding to commands
Plaintiff was taken down because he didn’t properly respond to commands, and he suffered facial injuries. He was, however, so intoxicated and couldn’t remember what happened. He was also Tased. It was all reasonable based on what the officer was … Continue reading
S.D.Miss.: QI has to be applied but it should be overruled (updated)
Plaintiff’s claim that he was wrongfully stopped and searched, finding nothing, and had his newly acquired car torn apart on the side of the road still led to the officer getting qualified immunity. This case is an historical and practical … Continue reading
CA10: Shooting of decedent when he raised a gun at his arrest appears justified
When officers, including the SWAT team, came to arrest the decedent, he had a gun in hand and raised it. He was already known to be potentially violent, and the shooting was reasonable under the circumstances. Estate of Valverde v. … Continue reading
CA6: Not telling officers during arrest and transport of pre-existing injury gives them QI
“Detroit police arrested Baxter Jones for disorderly conduct. They transported Jones, who uses a wheelchair, in a modified cargo van. Jones says riding in the van aggravated his spinal injuries and hurt his shoulders and hands. The district court denied … Continue reading
NJ: Ptf’s and eyewitness’s testimony ptf’s hands were over his head in act of surrender when he was shot overcame QI at summary judgment stage
“At the summary judgment stage, in deciding the issue of qualified immunity, our jurisprudence requires that the evidence be viewed in the light most favorable to Baskin. Therefore, for summary judgment purposes, we must accept as true the sworn deposition … Continue reading
CA8: On totality, stomping ptf’s ankle and breaking it when six officers were trying to control him was covered by QI
While six officers were wrestling plaintiff, this one’s stomping plaintiff’s ankle and breaking it was on the surface unreasonable, but under all the circumstances, it was all hazy enough on the law to require qualified immunity. Shelton v. Stevens, 2020 … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Collective knowledge doctrine doesn’t require affiant officer to independently corroborate
The affidavit for the search warrant here was adequate to show nexus and probable cause for a search. The reliance on other officers’ information didn’t require this officer to independently corroborate it. United States v. Velazquez, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS … Continue reading