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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)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
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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)
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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
Volokh Conspiracy: Why the Supreme Court Reviews So Many Qualified Immunity Cases
Volokh Conspiracy: Why the Supreme Court Reviews So Many Qualified Immunity Cases by Orin Kerr: Here’s a theory, at least.
SCOTUS: Qualified immunity for shooting a woman holding a knife in an apparent threatening manner
In Kisela v. Hughes, 17-467 (U.S. April 2, 2018), decided on the cert petition and response, the Supreme Court held that an officer who shot a woman holding a knife in an apparent threatening manner [although that seems to be … Continue reading
CA7: State’s use of state’s “John Doe” proceedings was shown to be in good faith
In the court’s second view of Wisconsin’s unique John Doe proceedings, the Seventh Circuit decides only the good faith exception and concludes that the reliance on state law and compliance with the Stored Communications Act was all in good faith. … Continue reading
NYLJ: Time to End Qualified Immunity?
NYLJ: Time to End Qualified Immunity? by Ilann M. Maazel: Civil Rights Litigation columnist Ilann M. Maazel writes: Qualified immunity is often asserted and litigated in §1983 cases. But some conservative scholars now argue that the doctrine is lawless. This … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: “[W]hen officers rely on a judicially secured warrant, they are generally entitled to qualified immunity.”
“In search and seizure cases, when officers rely on a judicially secured warrant, they are generally entitled to qualified immunity.” Plaintiff claimed false information was provided for the warrant, but he fails in his burden of showing a fact question … Continue reading
CA3: Affidavit for SW was fair on its face and showing of PC, so officer gets QI for execution
The officers had qualified immunity for execution of a search warrant application that was fair on its face. It could be relied upon by a reasonable officer. Olson v. Ako, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 6958 (3d Cir. Mar. 20, 2018):
W.D.Va.: Prisoner suit for recording attorney-client meetings survives 6A claim but 4A denied on QI
Plaintiff, a prison inmate, had his conversations with his lawyer in trial preparation recorded by prison officials. He sued for interference with his right to counsel and for a Fourth Amendment violation. Defendant’s summary judgment motion is denied on the … Continue reading
CA9: Officer putting gun to head of handcuffed compliant suspect and threatening to kill him was excessive force, but QI applied
“Examining the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the non-moving party on summary judgment, the panel assumed that the police officer did indeed point his gun at plaintiff’s head and threatened to kill him. The panel held that … Continue reading
The Crime Report: Does Police Immunity for Wrongful Arrests Really Deter Crime?
The Crime Report: Does Police Immunity for Wrongful Arrests Really Deter Crime? In the wake of ongoing attention to police misconduct, a new economic study considers the cost of granting full immunity to officers for wrongful arrests and detention of … Continue reading
CA9: Ptf refused entry to house on a domestic call, and police broke in and tasered him; grant of QI reversed
Plaintiff refused entry to the police on a domestic call. They broke in and tasered him on the floor. The district court erred in granting qualified immunity to the officers. He refused entry, which was his right, and this case … Continue reading
techdirt: Appeals Court: Handcuffing A Compliant Ten-Year-Old Is Unreasonable But Deputy Had No Way Of Knowing That
techdirt: Appeals Court: Handcuffing A Compliant Ten-Year-Old Is Unreasonable But Deputy Had No Way Of Knowing That by Tim Cushing: Time and time again, courts remind officers of the law don’t actually have to know the law to enforce the … Continue reading
CA4: Handcuffing a compliant child at school violated 4A, but officer gets QI
A police officer’s handcuffing a compliant child after a discussion in the school office violated the child’s Fourth Amendment rights. The event was long past with no risk of violence being shown by the child by the time that happened. … Continue reading
CA5: Ptf’s civil Franks claim survives QI; def officer omitted material exculpatory evidence that led to ptf’s 15 min aquittal of murder
Plaintiff spent 16 months in jail awaiting trial for murder. He was acquitted in 15 minutes. He sued all the officers. After a prior appeal (Winfrey v. San Jacinto Cty., 481 Fed. Appx. 969 (5th Cir. 2012)), all that remains … Continue reading
CA9: Taking children from parents without exigency or court order violated 4A and right to family unity
When Arizona state social workers removed plaintiffs’ children from the home without judicial authorization and without a reasonable belief they were in danger or exigency, they violated plaintiffs’ rights to family unity and the Fourth Amendment. The right was clearly … Continue reading
SCOTUS: QI immunity granted where there was arguable PC on the totality for arrests and no case in point saying there wasn’t
On the totality of circumstances, it was reasonable to infer probable cause to arrest plaintiffs for unlawful entry for being in an otherwise vacant building for a party. The actions of the partygoers suggested they knew they had no right … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Administrative search exception doesn’t apply to a motorcycle club that isn’t remotely a “closely regulated business”
The administrative search exception under Atlanta city ordinance doesn’t apply to a motorcycle club that isn’t remotely a “closely regulated business.” Summary judgment for plaintiffs granted. Brown v. City of Atlanta, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6222 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 9, … Continue reading
Albuquerque Journal: Gov. wants to grant immunity to police
Albuquerque Journal: Gov. wants to grant immunity to police by Dan Boyd:
CA10: Franks doesn’t apply to private actors providing false information to LEOs
Even assuming private volunteer animal cruelty investigators provided false information that was used to get search warrants issued for plaintiffs’ property for evidence of cockfighting, qualified immunity applies because no case holds that the Franks doctrine applies to a private … Continue reading
CA4: Officer who obtained court order for minor ptf to be detained and to get an erection so police could photograph it gets no QI; this isn’t remotely reasonable
Plaintiff was a 17 year old that allegedly sent a picture of his erection to his 15 year old girlfriend. Defendant obtained a court order for plaintiff to be transported to a juvenile detention center to masturbate to get an … Continue reading