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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Probation / Parole search
CA5: PC showing for house in affidavit for SW also supported automobile exception search of car elsewhere
The affidavit for the warrant for defendant’s house also provided nexus to defendant’s car. When it was driven away from the house just before the search, the police decided to stop and search it. That search was valid under the … Continue reading
NY3: SW for person doesn’t include body cavity search unless reason for such search was shown
“Even where a search warrant has been previously obtained, it is axiomatic that such ‘warrant exists and is required not simply to permit, but to circumscribe police intrusions’ …. Here, the search warrant that had been previously obtained authorized the … Continue reading
CA9: Supervised release condition of financial disclosure permitted under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and didn’t violate 4A
“Second, the financial disclosure condition does not clearly violate the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that release conditions be reasonably necessary and narrowly tailored. See United States v. Sales, 476 F.3d 732, 737 (9th Cir. 2007). We have upheld a substantially similar … Continue reading
WA: Parole search of cell phone was reasonable
Defendant was on supervision for a sex offense. He was required to disclose all his dating relationships. A parole search of his cell phone was reasonable, and it revealed other violations. In re Pers. Restraint of Allgoewer, 2024 Wash. App. … Continue reading
PA: PO could send parolee’s GPS tracking to CID
Defendant was on parole for armed robbery, wearing a GPS tracker. It was reasonable for parole to send his tracking information to a detective investigating him for another robbery. Commonwealth v. Rosendary, 2024 PA Super 51, 2024 Pa. Super. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA5: Even if parole search was to aid criminal investigation, it was still reasonable
Even if defendant’s parole search was in aid of a criminal investigation, it was still reasonable. United States v. Barron, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 6336 (5th Cir. Mar. 15, 2024). A warrant after a shooting showed no probable cause for … Continue reading
CA2: Supervised release search condition not adequately addressed on the record
“We conclude that the ‘special needs’ doctrine of the Fourth Amendment permits, when sufficiently supported by the record, the imposition of a special condition of supervised release that allows the probation officer to conduct a suspicionless search of the defendant’s … Continue reading
MO: Collective knowledge for RS doesn’t require that every witness be called at the suppression hearing
Collective knowledge for reasonable suspicion doesn’t require that every witness be called at the suppression hearing. “While Appellant seemingly takes issue with the fact that the officer who took Victim’s report did not also testify, the Hensley test only requires … Continue reading
OH3: Parole search authority is statutory, not coerced consent
The parole search statute governs parole searches. It is not a matter of coerced consent. State v. Harrison, 2024-Ohio-884, 2024 Ohio App. LEXIS 816 (3d Dist. Mar. 11, 2024). Civil Franks violation: “The omission of the full timeline is material … Continue reading
LA2: Search of nonparole roommate’s room required PC and SW
There is risk of a nonparolee roommate to parole searches of their common area. Once a search can occur, however, the rights of the roommate not on parole have to be respected. A search of the roommate’s room requires probable … Continue reading
CA9: Questioning motorist about probation status for 10 seconds and safety reasons was reasonable
Questioning defendant about his probation or parole status, albeit for about 10 seconds and clearly for safety reasons, did not unreasonably extend the stop. United States v. Beltran, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 2003 (9th Cir. Jan. 30, 2024). There was … Continue reading
OH8: Graham v. Connor reasonableness standard applied where police are charged with assault on civilians
Defendant was a Cleveland PD officer convicted of misdemeanor assault on a civilian by putting his hands around the throat of an arrestee. Even under the Garner standard for Fourth Amendment reasonableness, the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict. … Continue reading
WI: Drug dog “instinct exception” not applicable here, even if it is ever adopted
The court declines to adopt, at least for now, a drug dog’s “instinct exception” for the dog entering defendant’s car. Other courts have adopted that exception, but factually it doesn’t even apply here because the court finds the dog was … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: State parole search waiver applies to hotel room used for drug dealing
The parole search waiver under state law provides for searching one’s domicile. Here there was probable cause to believe defendant was using a hotel room for drug dealing, and he was there for more than a de minimus time. Thus, … Continue reading
D.Me.: SW affidavit mentioned a licensing complaint against defendant doctor, but omission that the complaint was resolved favorably gets a Franks hearing
Defendant is a D.O. accused of over prescribing. She made her substantial preliminary showing to get a Franks hearing because the affiant omitted from the affidavit for warrant that the licensing authority considered the same claims and found she acted … Continue reading
D.P.R.: Probation search can precede arrest
Defendant’s probation officer was not a “stalking horse” for the police in this probation search. They both had their reasons for the search. Following most of the circuits addressing the issue, the search can precede the arrest. United States v. … Continue reading
DC parolee’s GPS monitor can only be placed by court order
Defendant’s GPS monitoring while on D.C. parole was unauthorized without an order from the sentencing court. It also doesn’t fit under Knights and Samson and special needs. Therefore, its use here to connect defendant to a crime is suppressed. Davis … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: CA2 doesn’t recognize “stalking horse” theory of probation searches
“Skyfield’s stalking horse theory ‘that the NYPD was the real law enforcement animator’ behind the Probation Office’s actions is therefore inconsistent with binding Second Circuit precedent. United States v. Chandler, 56 F.4th 27, 43 (2d Cir. 2022), cert. denied, 143 … Continue reading
CA9: Questions about supervised release status and request for consent during traffic stop are reasonable
This traffic stop was not unreasonably extended. “Officers were permitted to ask Contreras about his supervisory release status as an ordinary inquiry incident to a traffic stop. … Officers were also allowed to conduct a criminal records search. … Likewise, … Continue reading