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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: Excessive force
HuffPo: Yes, It’s Legal To Film The Cops — And What’s Been Filmed In Recent Months Is Appalling
HuffPo: Yes, It’s Legal To Film The Cops — And What’s Been Filmed In Recent Months Is Appalling by Christopher Mathias: NEW YORK — It’s becoming clearer and clearer that smartphones have ushered in a new era of police accountability. … Continue reading
CA9: No qualified immunity to handcuffing ADHD child who wouldn’t leave school grounds
Officers were entitled to qualified immunity with regard to an unconstitutional seizure of a minor child with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder who was sitting quietly but was unresponsive and refused to leave a school playground, since a reasonable officer would … Continue reading
CO: While defendant was not an authorized driver of a rental car, she had standing in her own packages in the car
Although defendant was not an authorized driver of the rental car stopped by police for a traffic violation, defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the gift-wrapped packages in that car, which she continually asserted were hers and were … Continue reading
The Atlantic: Zap! Should the State Keep Shocking Citizens to Enforce Minor Laws?
The Atlantic: Zap! Should the State Keep Shocking Citizens to Enforce Minor Laws? by Conors Friedersdorf: A man shocked into submission after walking his dog off leash sues, and wins long overdue limits on Taser-happy law enforcement.
NYTimes: Editorial: A Thin Blue Line in Battle Fatigues
NYTimes: Editorial: A Thin Blue Line in Battle Fatigues: The nation was stunned at the sight of local police officers armed for a military siege in Ferguson, Mo., when protesters took to the streets last month after the police shooting … Continue reading
The Hill: Lawmakers unveil bill to de-militarize cops
The Hill: Lawmakers unveil bill to de-militarize cops by Mike Lillis: The bipartisan bill would scale back a program sending surplus military equipment to police.
CA11: Officer denied qualified immunity for slamming passive arrestee to pavement
“We have repeatedly ruled that a police officer violates the Fourth Amendment, and is denied qualified immunity, if he or she uses gratuitous and excessive force against a suspect who is under control, not resisting, and obeying commands. See, e.g., … Continue reading
CA11: Courthouse security guard denied qualified immunity for twisting arm of a female lawyer on the phone
Plaintiff in this § 1983 case was a lawyer entering the Fulton County Courthouse. She put her briefcase and purse on the conveyor belt for the x-ray machine, but she set off the metal detector. She was instructed to take … Continue reading
NYTimes: Police Armored Vehicle Is Unwelcome in California College Town
NYTimes: Police Armored Vehicle Is Unwelcome in California College Town by Adam Nagourney: DAVIS, Calif. — The police department of this modest college town is among the latest California beneficiaries of surplus military equipment: a $700,000 armored car that is … Continue reading
Politico: Feds release guidance on police body cameras
Politico: Feds release guidance on police body cameras by Tal Kopan: Body-worn cameras on police officers can increase accountability of police and improve evidence gathering, but if departments are going to use them they must address concerns of officers and … Continue reading
NYTimes: How the Supreme Court Protects Bad Cops
NYTimes: How the Supreme Court Protects Bad Cops by Erwin Chemerinsky:
CA9: “brutal and physically invasive” warrantless rectal search in jail should have been suppressed
In a “brutal and physically invasive” warrantless rectal search in jail, the motion to suppress should have been granted. He was handcuffed, Tased, and surrounded by five officers, and exigent circumstances were lacking. United States v. Fowlkes, 770 F.3d 748 … Continue reading
WaPo: Editorial: The country needs more information on how often police kill
Editorial: The country needs more information on how often police kill: HOW MANY times a year do U.S. police officers employ deadly force, and how many people die as a result? What are the races and ethnicities of those involved? … Continue reading
NYTimes: In Washington, Second Thoughts on Arming Police
NYTimes: In Washington, Second Thoughts on Arming Police by Matt Apuzzo and Michael S. Schmidt: WASHINGTON — Jolted by images of protesters clashing with heavily armed police officers in Missouri, President Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of the government’s … Continue reading
538.com: Nobody Knows How Many Americans The Police Kill Each Year
538.com: Nobody Knows How Many Americans The Police Kill Each Year by Reuben Fischer-Baum: Earlier this month, a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting and the response have reignited concerns … Continue reading
NPR: Police, Race And The Use Of Deadly Force
NPR: Police, Race And The Use Of Deadly Force, The Diane Rehm Show, One Hour: Michael Brown’s death sparks a national conversation about what happens when police don’t reflect the communities they serve. As the Justice Department investigates police tactics … Continue reading
CA5: Firing assault rifle into car with suicidal driver during high speed chase not constitutionally unreasonable
An officer firing an assault rifle into a fleeing stolen car operated at high speeds by a suicidal armed man did not commit a constitutional violation. There was no constitutional obligation on the part of the officer to use less … Continue reading
CA11: Tasering armed man out of a tree where he broke his back entitled to QI
Plaintiff was drunk in a tree with a gun after an altercation at a party. The police came and he refused to some down. He was Tasered twice, the second time falling headfirst eight feet and becoming a paraplegic. The … Continue reading
WaPo: The curious grammar of police shootings
WaPo: The curious grammar of police shootings by Radley Balko: You’re probably familiar with the weaselly way politicians tend to apologize when they’ve been caught red-handed. The most famous example is the use of the line, mistakes were made. Use … Continue reading
CA9: SJ for officers revd; no showing of exigency for entry or need for excessive force
The plaintiff stated a § 1983 claim for unlawful entry and excessive force, and the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the officers. There was no showing of exigency for the entry or need for the … Continue reading