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- PA: 18 U.S.C. § 2558A doesn’t mandate social media searches, only reporting what they discover; still a private search
- D.Mont.: Delay of USPS Express Mail for dog sniff didn’t violate 4A
- S.D.W.Va.: Warrantless arrest at door for CSAM didn’t support plain view seizure of cell phone
- OH2: Parking on the grass justified stop
- CA11: NCMEC’s cybertips are reliable enough to support PC and the GFE
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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 -
Latest Slip Opinions:
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Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
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State courts (and some USDC opinions)
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
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Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
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General (many free):
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Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
Privacy Foundation
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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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
CA9: Use of Taser in dart-mode wasn’t excessive force because it was justified
“An officer’s use of a Taser in dart-mode ‘constitute[s] an intermediate, significant level of force.’ … But under the Graham factors, Officer Swindling’s brief Taser use was justified under the circumstances. First, Sharif had assaulted his daughter’s mother; stolen a … Continue reading
TN: Ptf’s actions at DV call justified officers’ greater force
The totality of the circumstances, including the nature of the domestic violence call, appellant’s armed presence near the scene, his rapid movement towards the officers while armed, and the short timeframe, made the officers’ use of deadly force objectively reasonable … Continue reading
TN: Domestic and road rage call is a “serious crime” when evaluating officer’s use of force
When evaluating an officer’s use of force in responding to a domestic and road rage call involving a weapon, it is considered a serious crime. The use of force here was reasonable. Holland v. Cheatham Cty., 2025 Tenn. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: USMJ’s credibility determinations on search issue aren’t subject to de novo review
The USMJ’s credibility determinations on a search issue aren’t subject to de novo review before the USDJ. United States v. Messer, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11783 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 23, 2025).* Collective knowledge supported reasonable suspicion here to extend the … Continue reading
CA3: Conviction for threats by internet justified supervised release condition of computer monitoring
Where defendant was convicted of making threats over the internet to a Congressman, a two year computer monitoring condition was reasonable and did not violate the First and Fourth Amendment. United States v. Hall, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 1109 (3d … Continue reading
Reason: “the Supreme Court’s oral argument yesterday in Barnes v. Felix will be noteworthy.”
Reason: Prof. Robert Leider on the arguments in Barnes v. Felix by Will Baude: Professor Robert Leider, who writes in both constitutional law and criminal law, passed along these comments on the Supreme Court’s recent oral argument in an excessive … Continue reading
S.D.Ala.: Failure to timely make SW return under state law not a 4A issue
The fact the search warrant paperwork wasn’t returned on time which made it void under state law isn’t relevant under the Fourth Amendment in federal court. Jackson v. United States, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 235912 (S.D. Ala. Dec. 4, 2024), … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Violation of CalECPA has nothing to do with federal rights
Violation of CalECPA has nothing to do with federal rights. United States v. Wenger, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1331 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 3, 2025). At the time of the warrant, it was not established that the accused had to have … Continue reading
MT: Search of electronics under SW needs to start by SW expiration, not be completed
The search warrant for numerous electronic devices (phones and tablets) was served within ten days but the search couldn’t be completed for longer than that. The grant of the motion to suppress because of the delay is reversed. The warrant … Continue reading
CA8: Takedown was lawful, assault thereafter wasn’t
Plaintiff’s takedown was lawful, but not the assault after he was down. “It is even more clearly established now. A suspect’s ‘right[] to be free from excessive force [is] violated if officers choke, kick, or punch [him] when [he is] … Continue reading
NY3: No REP in SHU surveillance
Defendant was in a special housing unit in a NY state prison. He knew he was under constant surveillance. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in admissions he made caught on video. People v. Ashcroft, 2024 NY Slip Op … Continue reading
MO: Def’s 4A ineffective assistance claim fails because he doesn’t show he’d prevail on the 4A claim
Defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim was based on defense counsel’s failure to file a motion to suppress of a marital vehicle. He never, however, showed that he did, in fact, have standing. Moreover, the trial court found that the … Continue reading
CA11: Body slam of slighter built resisting arrestee was reasonable force
The officer’s body slam of a resisting minor suspect about half his weight was entitled to qualified immunity. “But even if the facts of our case did fit Richmond, the statement that ‘less force is appropriate’ would not put every … Continue reading
Force Science: Officer-created jeopardy: A legal theory that threatens effective policing
Force Science via Police 1: Officer-created jeopardy: A legal theory that threatens effective policing by Lewis “Von” Kliem (“The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Barnes v. Felix, a case that could redefine how officers’ split-second decisions are judged” [¶] … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: The affiant’s passing on alleged exaggerations from other officers wasn’t material to PC
Relying on reports of other officers that could have been exaggerations in part didn’t show that the affiant was intentionally or recklessly misleading the court. Also, “the Defendant has failed to demonstrate that Officer Granville’s inclusion of the exaggerated statement … Continue reading
AZ: A traffic offense could be used to stop defendant to question him about a fatal accident 11 days earlier
Defendant committed a traffic offense and was stopped. Officers had reasonable suspicion he left the scene of a fatal accident 11 days earlier, and officers wanted to talk to him about that. The stop was not pretextual because there was … Continue reading
D.Utah: Positive CODIS hit justifies SW for DNA for confirmation
“Contrary to Defendant’s view, the positive CODIS hit did not ‘only amount[] to an investigative lead at best ….’ It is well-established that a blood match from a reputable, national database that links a defendant to a crime scene establishes … Continue reading