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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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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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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: Excessive force
SCOTUS: Warning before use of deadly force not “clearly established” [or established at all]
It does not violate clearly established law under the Fourth Amendment to shoot without warning when the shooting is otherwise justified. White v. Pauly, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 5 (Jan. 9, 2017) (per curiam):
D.Md.: Extended border search from customs at JFK to locked warehouse in Maryland
The extended border search doctrine applied to a package shipped from China through customs at JFK and then to a warehouse in Bowie, Maryland. It was under lock and key, even on the truck, from customs to the warehouse where … Continue reading
AK: Reconsideration of finding of no PC granted; def never really put lack of PC in issue
At issue was a seizure and then warranted search of defendant’s cell phone looking for an incriminating text message that was already seen by the police on the recipient’s cell phone. At the hearing, the Superior Court granted a motion … Continue reading
CA2: Judgment on liability for bogus stop and frisk was not error; $196k verdict affirmed
Plaintiffs were two teenagers stopped by police for one vaguely matching the description of one of two robbers. One of them refused to put his phone away when the officer ordered him three times not to. At a § 1983 … Continue reading
NPR: Military-Trained Police May Be Less Hasty To Shoot, But That Got This Vet Fired
NPR: Military-Trained Police May Be Less Hasty To Shoot, But That Got This Vet Fired by Quil Lawrence: There are plenty of recent stories involving white police officers who have shot and killed black men, including some who are on … Continue reading
SCOTUS cert grant: County of Los Angeles v. Mendez: excessive force
SCOTUS grants cert in County of Los Angeles v. Mendez, 16-639, cert. pet. here, granting on questions 1 and 3. Questions presented: In a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, the district court concluded Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (“LASD”) deputies … Continue reading
CA11: Use of pepper spray on somebody kicking a police car isn’t excessive force
The use of pepper spray on somebody kicking a police car isn’t excessive force. Nigro v. Carrasquillo, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 17921 (11th Cir. Oct. 4, 2016):
Quartz: Opinion: How America’s obsession with TV cop shows like “Law and Order SVU” enables police brutality in real life
Quartz: Opinion: How America’s obsession with TV cop shows like “Law and Order SVU” enables police brutality in real life by Noah Berlatsky: The narrative incentives here are clear—if you’re creating mass pulp entertainment, you want drama….But this need for … Continue reading
CA6: Jail takedown of DUI arrestee on video appears to be excessive force; QI denied
The video of plaintiff’s takedown in the jail on video certainly appears to be excessive force in violation of clearly established law. Denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity properly denied. Jennings v. Fuller, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16633 (6th … Continue reading
New law review article: A Tactical Fourth Amendment
Brandon L. Garrett, A Tactical Fourth Amendment, 102 Va.L.Rev. __ (2016). Abstract:
NYTimes: Justice Department to Streamline Tracking of Police Killings
NYTimes: Justice Department to Streamline Tracking of Police Killings by Charles Savage: WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is moving forward with a plan to better track killings by police officers, as heightened national scrutiny of such deaths has reinforced criticism … Continue reading
NYLJ: Police Use of Force, the Constitution, and the New NYPD Policy
NYLJ: Police Use of Force, the Constitution, and the New NYPD Policy by Christopher Dunn: Earlier this summer, the NYPD—the nation’s largest and most influential police department—rolled out new use-of-force policies that have received precious little scrutiny. In light of … Continue reading
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: Utah SWAT stats show militarized tactics used less, but still overwhelmingly for drug crimes
WaPo: ‘The Watch’ Blog: Utah SWAT stats show militarized tactics used less, but still overwhelmingly for drug crimes by Radley Balko: That’s a massive increase in the use of tactics that are inherently volatile, risky and violent. It’s unfortunate that … Continue reading
Democracy: The War on Drugs Has Made Policing More Violent
Democracy: The War on Drugs Has Made Policing More Violent by Jonathan Blanks What can be done to curb the excessive and, sometimes, predatory policing that has emerged from the Drug War?
WSJ: Racial Disparity Found in Police Taser Use
WSJ: Racial Disparity Found in Police Taser Use by Joseph De Avila: Minorities were involved in more than half of the 2015 incidents of Taser use by Connecticut police, report says.
Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Police institute new ‘use of force’ policy for officers as Justice Department report looms
Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Police institute new ‘use of force’ policy for officers as Justice Department report looms by Kevin Rector: The Baltimore Police Department plans to implement a new use-of-force policy Friday that emphasizes the “sanctity of life,” stresses de-escalation … Continue reading
CA7: Excessive lighting at a traffic stop (which this really wasn’t) isn’t excessive force in a high crime area at night
Defendant’s car was parked within 15′ of a crosswalk, a violation of state law unless passengers were getting out. The officers saw no driver and nobody getting out, so they pulled up on the car and shined a light and … Continue reading
Pacific Standard: Murder at the Border
Pacific Standard: Murder at the Border by Julie Morse In a rare ruling, Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz has been indicted for the murder of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, the 16-year-old he shot across border lines.
WaPo: Proposal to Congress would require police to get de-escalation training, create national use of force standard
WaPo: Proposal to Congress would require police to get de-escalation training, create national use of force standard by Wesley Lowrey: Legislation set to be introduced to Congress on Thursday would create a new national standard for when police officers can … Continue reading
CA6: Officer’s unprovoked attack on ptf for shutting his door on uninvited officer was excessive
The officer’s unprovoked attack on the plaintiff for shutting his door on police officers not invited in was excessive force under the Fourth Amendment. “There was no need for any force in this situation because no crime was being committed … Continue reading