Archives
-
Recent Posts
- NY4: Payton does not apply to an arrest in a common area of an apartment building
- FL5: State failed to show justification for delay for dog sniff
- TechCrunch: US accuses American of allegedly wiping his phone using a ‘duress’ password during border search
- MI: Possession of MJ that’s only a civil infraction doesn’t justify search of car under automobile exception
- NY1: 911 call about shooting in apartment building led officers to def’s apartment and exigency justified entry
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
-
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
S.Ct. Shadow Docket Database
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
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)
-
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
Electronic Frontier Foundation
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)
-
“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: State constitution
IA: Failure to articulate why state const. applies for different result is waiver
Failure to articulate one’s argument that the state constitution requires a different result is waiver. State v. Versteegh, 2022 Iowa App. LEXIS 434 (June 15, 2022). “Here, the issuing judge reasonably concluded, based on all of the circumstances, that there … Continue reading
WA: A detainee’s racial and ethnic factors are a part of “all the circumstances” in determining a seizure under state constitution
Under the state constitution, whether a person is “seized” must consider the person’s racial and ethnic factors that influence their perceptions. State v. Sum, 2022 Wash. LEXIS 317 (June 9, 2022):
OK: Exclusionary rule applies in civil cases under state constitution
The exclusionary rule applies to Oklahoma City’s effort to enforce a warrantless entry to seize and forfeit birds in apparent distress. Oklahoma applies the exclusionary rule in most civil cases under its state constitutional provision against unreasonable searches. There was … Continue reading
IN: State const’l arguments have to be raised in trial court first
Defendant’s argument for a change in standing law under the state constitution that he should have the ability to challenge the search of another person’s person and clothing wasn’t raised below, so it’s waived. State v. Allen, 2022 Ind. App. … Continue reading
NM: Traffic arrest by reserve deputy in violation of statute violates state constitution
Where the legislature requires traffic arrests be made by uniformed, sworn, and salaried officers, arrest by a reserve deputy violates the state constitution. State v. Wright, 2022 N.M. LEXIS 2 (Jan. 10, 2022). “The Court finds that Mr. Hunley was … Continue reading
OR: Exigency for automobile exception has to exist at the time of search; telephonic warrant preferred
Oregon Supreme Court holds that the exigency for an automobile exception search under the state constitution must actually exist at the time of the search. The per se rule from 1986’s Brown case is overruled. Technological changes and statute since … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Rule 41(g) is for return of things, not suppression of evidence
Rule 41(g) is only for return of seized things, and it can’t be used to suppress evidence, especially in a state court. Christie v. United States, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231113 (N.D.Cal. Dec. 2, 2021). Defendant’s motion to suppress cites … Continue reading
D.Conn.: Flight from the police with abandonment of stuff obviates the need to decide RS for the stop
Defendant’s flight from the police and abandonment of items in flight was not while he was “seized.” Thus, the need to decide reasonable suspicion for a stop is obviated. United States v. Sockwell, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215294 (D.Conn. Nov. … Continue reading
NJ: Flagrant knock-and-announce violation requires suppression under state constitution
A flagrant violation of the knock-and-announce rule violates the state constitution and the result is excluded. Violating the knock-and-announce requirement makes the search warrantless. The court recognizes the Fourth Amendment rule is contra. State v. Caronna, 2021 N.J. Super. LEXIS … Continue reading
VT: Roving CBP patrol stop one mile from Canadian border violated state const. even though probably not 4A
A roving border patrol stop a mile from the Canadian border led to state charges against defendant. The court holds the state constitution was violated even if the Fourth Amendment was not, and the evidence should be suppressed. State v. … Continue reading
MA: Review of old body cam recording in unrelated investigation was a separate invasion of privacy requiring SW
The use of a body camera in the home responding to a domestic disturbance was reasonable. However, reviewing the body cam recording for the purposes of a later and unrelated investigation without a search warrant was unreasonable. The second look … Continue reading
CA10: Order to get out of car doesn’t unreasonably extend stop
The officer’s order for defendant to get out of the car was reasonable and did not unreasonably prolong the stop. United States v. Malone, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 26136 (10th Cir. Aug. 30, 2021). “While Fisk brings his assignment of … Continue reading
NJ Const. protects right of privacy in detainee’s private call from police station on unwarned recorded line
The state constitution protects against surreptitious recording of a telephone line from within a police station of a suspect where there was no warning and he was allowed into a room alone to make a call. State v. McQueen, 2021 … Continue reading
NJ declines to follow Heien under state constitution
NJ declines to adopt a reasonable mistake of law justification for an automobile stop and resulting search. At issue was a traffic law barring license plate frames that cover information on the plate that resulted in 100,000 stops per year. … Continue reading
ID: Nonpayment of fine warrant not based on PC for willfulness or ability to pay; writ of prohibition granted
A clerk’s affidavit of nonpayment said nothing about willfulness of nonpayment, and there was no showing of an “ability to pay analysis” for probable cause. Writ of prohibition against the contempt arrest is granted. Beck v. Elmore County Magistrate Court, … Continue reading
IA: State constitution prohibits warrantless trash search; “Current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence is a mess.”
Finding Iowa law long recognized trespass was an unreasonable entry, the state Supreme Court holds under the state constitution that trash out for collection by the trash collector is not abandoned property, and defendant still retained a reasonable expectation of … Continue reading
WY: Mere citation to state constitution without cogent argument for different treatment is waiver
Citation alone to the state constitution’s search and seizure without cogent argument for differentiating Fourth Amendment cases is waiver. The totality of information before the officer in the traffic stop justified it. Elmore v. State, 2021 Wyo. LEXIS 48 (Mar. … Continue reading
AZ: Third party doctrine after Carpenter doesn’t require SW for IP addresses and subscriber info
The third party doctrine after Carpenter does not make IP addresses and subscriber information protected by the Fourth Amendment or the state constitution. State v. Mixon, 2021 Ariz. LEXIS 3 (Jan. 11, 2021):