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- CA6: State officer’s arrest for violation of federal MJ law likely wouldn’t violate 4A
- D.N.M.: Shared driveway outside of fence and gate was not curtilage
- CA6: Knowing passcode to cell phone shows common authority over it to consent
- VI: Smell of MJ no longer PC in VI since legalization
- Reason: 3 Charlotte Cops Resign After Group Chat Reveals Competition To Arrest the Most Black People
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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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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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
MI: Taking ptf’s photo and prints after a valid arrest did not violate 4A
The taking of plaintiff’s photograph and fingerprints after an apparently valid arrest was not a clearly established violation of the Fourth Amendment where he was innocent of a crime. Plaintiff did not contest his arrest, but he contended that the … Continue reading
CA11: Shooting of ptf during drug raid was reasonable and subject to QI
This § 1983 case arose from a shooting death by police during execution of a drug search warrant. The pre-search briefing told the officers that the suspect inside was involved in drug dealing and was likely armed, so a no-knock … Continue reading
CA11: A police dog can’t be sued for excessive force under § 1983 or for negligence under state law
A police dog can’t be sued under § 1983, although the handler can. Here, the handler has qualified immunity for this use of force. Jones v. Fransen, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8816 (11th Cir. May 19, 2017):
CA6: Officer arresting on warrant for failure to perform community service that was mistakenly issued had QI
The officer executing a warrant that should not have been issued by the court in the first place for plaintiff’s failure to perform his community service had qualified immunity. Beckham v. City of Euclid, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8453 (6th … Continue reading
CA10: Successful suppression of evidence is not a “favorable outcome” for malicious prosecution purposes against the prosecutor; QI granted
Successful suppression of evidence is not a “favorable outcome” for malicious prosecution purposes against the prosecutor. It doesn’t show actual innocence. Margheim v. Buljko, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7421 (10th Cir. April 27, 2017):
VA: PC for arrest for reckless driving wasn’t stale after three hours
The officer saw defendant recklessly driving, but wasn’t able to stop him. Staleness for arrest for that did not dissipate within three hours before he saw defendant again. Hairston v. Commonwealth, 2017 Va. App. LEXIS 99 (April 11, 2017) (see … Continue reading
CA7: Officer did not violate 4A in reasonably handcuffing road rage suspect until RS dissipated
The district court erred in not granting summary judgment to the officer in this § 1983 case for his use of handcuffs on the plaintiff in his mid-60’s. There was reasonable suspicion for his stop as a suspect in a … Continue reading
Two on qualified immunity
It was not sufficiently clear that the officers’ actions here in aiding a repossession violated the Fourth Amendment, so they get qualified immunity. “However, there is sufficient daylight between the Officers’ conduct here and the conduct in Cochran and Hensley … Continue reading
CA11: Nolo plea establishes PC for arrest; excessive force can be shown by the injuries
Plaintiff’s nolo plea established probable cause for his arrest. Plaintiff’s excessive force claim, however, is established by clearly established law and the district court erred in finding it was de minimus. It appears that plaintiff was handcuffed and compliant but … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: QI granted city for seizure of liquor license under IL law after a bar erupted into a large fight
Plaintiff ran a bar in the Chicago suburbs, and police got 911 calls about a large fight inside. When they arrived and sorted it out, the Mayor, under the authority of the Illinois liquor control law, ordered the liquor license … Continue reading
CA8: RS too fact bound to lend itself to overcoming QI defense in § 1983 case
Plaintiff suppressed his search in state court for lack of reasonable suspicion, but he can’t get over the qualified immunity hurdle to sue the officer for the detention. The reasonable suspicion was thin at best, and, instead of nervousness, the … Continue reading
CA10: QI isn’t determined by violation of state law; has to be violation of federal law
In a fractured panel decision, the Tenth Circuit holds that federal law governs qualified immunity, not state law. Here, defendant violated clearly established state law, but the district court didn’t decide whether it violated clearly established federal law. Remanded. Stanley … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: That building inspector’s entry was governed by 4A is clearly established
A municipal building inspector’s entry into plaintiff’s building is governed by the Fourth Amendment and the law is well established. “Red-Tagging” the property for defects facially states a claim for relief and the motion to dismiss is denied. VNT Prop. … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: There is no such thing as a negligent search and seizure claim
There is no such thing as a negligent search and seizure claim. Rudd v. City of Jonesboro, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28682 (E.D.Ark. March 1, 2017). The search of plaintiff’s truck in a garage was reasonable and officers get qualified … Continue reading
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: 11th Circuit: Cops weren’t given enough notice that police tactics used for decades are unconstitutional
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: 11th Circuit: Cops weren’t given enough notice that police tactics used for decades are unconstitutional by Radley Balko:
CA10: QI applies to suit by driver and his child in car over police shooting driver
Several officers attempted to stop plaintiff at 3:50 am, and he finally stopped. One officer got in front of the car with a shotgun, and the car moved forward. That officer fired two shots from a shotgun at the driver, … Continue reading
CA1: No curtilage in def’s apt building yard
Defendant’s curtilage to an apartment building wasn’t violated by police entry through an unlocked back gate to get to the front door. (That apparently was a common way in.) Defendant came to the door and let them in, and then … Continue reading
CA10: Handcuffing and jailing an inebriated man as “incapacitated” violated the 4A and no QI
Plaintiff showed up at a concert at the Xfinity Center in Boston inebriated, but not so drunk he didn’t know what he was doing. Security separated him from the incoming line into the hands of the defendant, an off-duty officer … Continue reading
CA4: No QI for arrest w/o PC and pft held for 80 days; lack of PC was obvious
Plaintiff was held for 80 days on an arrest utterly without probable cause, and the officer has no qualified immunity. Smith v. Munday, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 1975 (4th Cir. Feb. 3, 2017):