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- N.D.Ala.: All parts of a SW are read in context, and that narrows it so it’s not overbroad
- WA: No immediate bail for DV arrest violates neither 4A nor due process
- S.D.N.Y.: Overseas seizure of Russian oligarch’s megayacht not governed by 4A
- CA7: No IAC in failure to more aggressively pursue Franks challenge
- CA9: Compelled use of fingerprint to open a cell phone didn’t violate 5A
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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--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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Strip search
E.D.Cal.: Ptf inmate’s unreasonable prison strip search case survives screening
Plaintiff, an inmate at Corcoran, stated enough to survive screening for his prison strip search case. Jacobs v. CDCR, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66813 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 6, 2021):
M.D.Ala.: Some force inheres in any arrest; de minimus force is reasonable
Some amount of force occurs in any arrest. The question is unreasonableness. “Garrett’s conclusory allegation regarding Williams’s specific actions establishes no more than the use of de minimis force by Williams, which does not constitute a Fourth Amendment violation.” Garrett … Continue reading
C.D.Ill.: Prison strip searches are always permitted, unless done unreasonably
Inmates seen naked in prison is not a constitutional claim unless it was all done in an unreasonable manner. The limited facts here fail to show that. Danuk v. Downey, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45383 (C.D. Ill. Mar. 11, 2021):
D.Conn.: Stripped down and strapped to bed in prison states 4A claim
In PLRA screening over a jail strip search and leaving plaintiff naked strapped down to his bed, “[t]he Court cannot discern a legitimate justification for leaving Smith in four-point restraints without a gown or a blanket to cover his naked … Continue reading
E.D.N.Y.: Def gets access to SW materials, but govt can redact informant’s info
The target of a search warrant long ago served is entitled to unsealing the affidavit, but the government can redact the affiant’s name and identifying information. United States v. Storage Room Numbers, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35977 (E.D. N.Y. Feb. … Continue reading
TX3: Even if revenge porn statute was unconstitutional, that doesn’t nullify a SW issued for it
Defendant was indicted for a revenge porn threat. A search warrant was obtained for his phone to prove he had the picture in the threat. He argued the search warrant was void because the revenge porn statute was unconstitutional. Whether … Continue reading
E.D.N.C.: PC was shown, but not nexus, and GFE does not apply
The affidavit showed probable cause, but it completely failed to show nexus to defendant’s place. It was so deficient in the showing of nexus that the good faith exception cannot apply. United States v. King, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18956 … Continue reading
TX11: No spousal privilege in recorded jail calls
Defendant’s jail calls to his wife were not privileged because he knew from the recording at the start of the call that it was being recorded. Newman v. State, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 293 (Tex. App. – Eastland Jan. 14, … Continue reading
D.Del.: Videotaping an otherwise valid prison strip search isn’t a per se 4A violation
“Plaintiff does not allege that the search itself violated his rights but, rather, it is the recording of the search that he finds objectionable.” “[U]sing a camera to record a strip search in a prison does not, by itself, amount … Continue reading
IN: Officers had sufficient suspicion of contraband on the person for a booking strip search
Officers had the requisite degree of suspicion for a strip search at the jail for a misdemeanor. He had suspicions there was something amiss with defendant’s unusual small talk, but, coupled with the facts, added up. Reagan v. State, 2020 … Continue reading
CA9: Prison visitor should be allowed to avoid a strip search based on RS by being permitted to leave
A prison visitor has the right to leave a prison to avoid a strip search based on reasonable suspicion as a condition of entry. Qualified immunity, however, is granted because the right was not well established before this case. Cates … Continue reading
MT: Jail entry strip searches without RS of even traffic warrant arrestees were reasonable
Strip searches of inmates coming into the county jail without reasonable suspicion the detainee had contraband or weapons were valid under Florence and under the state constitution. “Plaintiffs have not demonstrated the strip searches at issue are not reasonably related … Continue reading
N.D.N.Y.: Removal of shoes not a strip search
School administrator’s direction to a student to remove shoes was not a strip search. I.S. v. Binghamton City Sch. Dist., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167370 (N.D. N.Y. Sept. 14, 2020). 2254 petitioner litigated and lost his illegal arrest claim in … Continue reading
ProPublica: Over a Dozen Black and Latino Men Accused a Cop of Humiliating, Invasive Strip Searches. The NYPD Kept Promoting Him.
ProPublica: Over a Dozen Black and Latino Men Accused a Cop of Humiliating, Invasive Strip Searches. The NYPD Kept Promoting Him. by Joaquin Sapien, Topher Sanders & Nate Schweber (“The men said Assistant Chief Christopher McCormack touched them inappropriately during … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Strip search class rejected for no limit to lack of RS
Plaintiff’s proposed arrestee strip search class definition is denied for not limiting it to those strip searched without reasonable suspicion. Lewis v. District of Columbia, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160706 (D. D.C. Sept. 3, 2020):
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:
M.D.Pa.: Strip search at DTF office was reasonable on PC def hid drugs in underwear and anal cavity
Officers had probable cause defendant had drugs hidden in his underwear or anal cavity. When he was taken to the DTF office, a strip search there was reasonable when there were no drugs otherwise in his possession. United States v. … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Forced catheterization of drug suspects with SW merely to see if drugs are in their system was unreasonable
Forced catheterization of drug suspects with a search warrant, who refused to urinate on demand, because of suspicion of drug use was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment under Schmerber. The individual defendants get qualified immunity, however, because of a lack … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Prisoner’s § 1983 strip search case dismissed
Pro se prison inmate plaintiff fails to state claims for § 1983 relief including alleged arbitrary strip searches. With his disciplinary record, they aren’t arbitrary. He’s in a prison, after all. Wright v. United States, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59884 … Continue reading
Daily Press: After Virginia prisons strip searched an 8-year-old, state lawmakers passed 4 bills to limit the practice
Daily Press: After Virginia prisons strip searched an 8-year-old, state lawmakers passed 4 bills to limit the practice by Gary A. Harki (“Four bills addressing the strip searching of visitors at jails and prisons in Virginia passed the General Assembly … Continue reading