September 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Archives
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Recent Posts
- WaPo: Americans have turned against police cameras that track license plates, new survey shows
- W.D.Tex.: What is the duty of the neutral and detached magistrate?
- D.Me.: Yes, more investigation could have been done, but there’s still PC on what there was
- CA3: Brady doesn’t apply to SW materials
- E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
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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 -
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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
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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: DNA
D.D.C.: Under Md. v. King, govt needn’t show actual need for DNA of already arrested person
The government moved for DNA by buccal swab from four defendants, and it does not have to show a need for genetic testing under Maryland v. King. United States v. Proctor, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16618 (D.D.C. Feb. 2, 2017). … Continue reading
MN: Request for consent to DNA after def lawyers up doesn’t violate 5A
“Because a request that a suspect consent to provide a DNA sample does not constitute interrogation under Miranda v. Arizona, … and DNA evidence is not testimonial or communicative in nature, a police officer does not violate a suspect’s Fifth … Continue reading
NYTimes: Family DNA Searches Seen as Crime-Solving Tool, and Intrusion on Rights
NYTimes: Family DNA Searches Seen as Crime-Solving Tool, and Intrusion on Rights by Eli Rosenberg: An unsolved Queens killing has led to calls for widening DNA searches to include relatives of possible suspects. But the method, a frontier in forensic … Continue reading
LA1: DNA testing for paternity testing is governed by the 4A
Court ordered DNA testing for paternity is a search under the Fourth Amendment, but it is reasonable. L.J.D. v. M.V.S, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 107 n.8 (La.App. 1 Cir. Jan. 25, 2017). The police knew three weeks ahead of time … Continue reading
CA11: First offender DNA sample that should have been destroyed under state law but wasn’t could be used in federal prosecution
Under Georgia law, a DNA sample from a first offender should be expunged from the system when he completes his probation or sentence. This one wasn’t. Whatever the statute says, it doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Hinton, … Continue reading
UT: Discovery order for DNA taking based on showing of PC was valid way to get it
Defendant was accused of burglary and aggravated assault, but he could not be identified by his victims. The state applied for a DNA collection order via the discovery rules, and defendant said he would not comply. Then an order was … Continue reading
ProPublica: DNA Dragnet: In Some Cities, Police Go From Stop-and-Frisk to Stop-and-Spit
ProPublica: DNA Dragnet: In Some Cities, Police Go From Stop-and-Frisk to Stop-and-Spit by Lauren Kirchner: Police in Florida and other states are building up private DNA databases, in part by collecting voluntary samples from people not charged with — or … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: SCA warrant can cross jurisdictional lines
“The Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge’s determination that the SCA provided authority for the search authorized by Magistrate Judge Smith. See United States v. Berkos, 543 F.3d 392, 398 (7th Cir. 2008) (geographic limitation of Rule 41(b) does not … Continue reading
WI: Def’s “custody” during raid was limited to getting DNA sample
Defendant’s house was raided with him in it, but he was not arrested and his “custody” status was limited to getting a buccal swab under the warrant. He was not in custody, albeit Summers permitting it, when he was talking. … Continue reading
W.D.Okla.: Ping order not subject to exclusionary rule under ECPA
A cell phone ping order allegedly in violation of ECPA was not subject to suppression. The warrantless entry into the house was justified by exigent circumstances. United States v. Banks, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53876 (W.D.Okla. April 22, 2016). The … Continue reading
NY Bronx: State’s request for def’s DNA came too late under discovery statute
The state’s argument that defendant doesn’t have a Fifth Amendment privilege in his DNA is a straw man not even argued by the defense. He does have a Fourth Amendment right, and the state’s request for DNA here was far … Continue reading
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Prosecutors want to collect DNA at arrest, not after conviction
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Prosecutors want to collect DNA at arrest, not after conviction by Rhonda Cook: Many Georgia prosecutors, like Wright, can point to examples of crimes that might not have happened if Georgia allowed the collection of DNA upon arrest….Civil … Continue reading
WaPo: ‘Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: Cert petition: Is DNA testing blood on seized clothing a Fourth Amendment ‘search’?
WaPo: ‘Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: Cert petition: Is DNA testing blood on seized clothing a Fourth Amendment ‘search’? by Orin Kerr: Blog readers are probably more interested in the underlying merits: Why is blood removal and testing a Fourth Amendment search? … Continue reading
DE: Without a showing there is anything to test DNA against, a warrant for DNA may be without PC; but here moot for now
Without a showing there is anything to test DNA against, a warrant for DNA may be without probable cause. After surveying the cases requiring there be something to test for a sample to be obtained, the question here is moot … Continue reading
CA9: Court ordered DNA collection permissible solely to exclude persons from an investigation
A Phoenix officer was shot and killed on duty. “More than 300 public safety personnel, the chief of police, and the mayor quickly converged on the scene. Roughly 100 people entered the area where Sergeant Drenth’s body was discovered, including … Continue reading
MD: Once DNA was lawfully seized, it can be compared to other samples at will
Defendant’s DNA was lawfully seized in the first place, and it could be compared thereafter to other samples for a match without it being an unreasonable search. The expectation of privacy ceased with the lawful seizure. Varriale v. State, 2015 … Continue reading
OH10: A CODIS hit on defendant’s DNA was probable cause for a confirmatory DNA test
A CODIS hit on defendant’s DNA was probable cause for a confirmatory DNA test. State v. Goins, 2015-Ohio-3121, 2015 Ohio App. LEXIS 3039 (10th Dist. August 4, 2015). Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not pursuing a motion to suppress before … Continue reading
CO: DNA taken in violation of statute not suppressed
Taking DNA from this defendant on a misdemeanor arrest was not a Fourth Amendment violation under King. It did violate state law, but the court doesn’t suppress. It matched DNA in a rape case and led to him being charged. … Continue reading
M.D.Ga.: DNA taken under state law that was potentially purgable still could be used as evidence in a federal prosecution
Defendant was charged as a first offender under Georgia law, and, if he completed probation successfully, his DNA sample would have been purged from the system. Here, the DNA was matched to another crime when he was still on probation. … Continue reading