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- TX1: Def has a duty to make his record on PC and the SW; missing affidavit was on him
- N.D.Ala.: SW not invalid because issuing judge previously represented the target
- The Guardian: ‘We should be worried’: report sheds light on ICE’s booming arsenal of hi-tech surveillance tools
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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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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)
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"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: Probation / Parole search
S.D.Cal.: Parolee executed a “fourth waiver” so only real question was whether there was probable cause to believe he lived in the place searched
Defendant was a California parolee who had executed a “fourth waiver,” and he knew he was subject to a parole search at any time. The only question was whether the officers had probable cause to believe he was living there … Continue reading
ND: Probation search of cell phone permitted even though not specified in probation search statute
North Dakota statute on probation searches says: “Defendant shall submit to search of his person, vehicle, or place of residence by any probation officer at any time of the day or night, with or without a search warrant.” Even though … Continue reading
D.Mass.: USPS tracks persons tracking suspicious packages by their IP addresses
This mere bailee didn’t have any right to control the package that was shipped, and he thus didn’t have standing to challenge its search, at least recognizing that some bailees might with better facts. More importantly, the government tracked the … Continue reading
FL4: Parole searches not limited by time of day, but must be reasonable; this one at 5:45 am with 8 officers
Florida case law long has recognized warrantless probation and parole searches on reasonable suspicion, and statute is not required. Here, there wasn’t even a parole condition to submit to parole searches. This search started at 5:45 am and was reasonable, … Continue reading
KS: Where the parole search rules changed and defendant didn’t know, they couldn’t revoke on the rule change
Defendant was a parolee, and his conditions changed with a broader search condition that he agree in writing that he’s aware. The paperwork, however, hadn’t been signed before this search occurred, and that broader condition thus could not be applied … Continue reading
D.Kan.: Def’s supervised release condition did not amount to consent to a search of his computer; he could refuse under risk of revo
The terms of defendant’s supervised release for his child pornography conviction provide that he is subject to a search on reasonable suspicion, but he can refuse and risk revocation if it is not well taken. The condition the government relies … Continue reading
OR: State fails on probation search justification by not developing it in trial court
The state conceded that the stop was unreasonably extended, but argued inevitable discovery because defendant was on probation and the search of her purse was a product of that. She’d refused consent to search her purse, and then her being … Continue reading
NY adopts “objectively reasonable mistake of law” for stops
“In this appeal, we are asked to decide whether there is probable cause to make a traffic stop for a suspected violation of law in accordance with article I, § 12 of the New York State Constitution and the Fourth … Continue reading
CA7 combines three cases to explain in detail supervised release conditions, including search conditions on reasonable suspicion
CA7 combines three cases to explain in detail supervised release conditions, including search conditions on reasonable suspicion. One defendant posited a 3 am home check for child pornography on his computer or a Javert-like obsessive PO. United States v. Kappes, … Continue reading
OH12: If you’re home with meth out back, don’t leave the TV on loud and ignore the knock-and-talk
The officer goes to the front door to do a knock-and-talk about methamphetamine production and the front window was open and the TV was on “really loud.” When nobody answered the door, it was reasonable to go to the back … Continue reading
CA7: Parole search permitted of gym bag left in cousin’s car when defendant wasn’t present
Defendant was on parole and suspected of being involved in a shooting. He left a gym bag in his cousin’s car. The parole search condition permitted the search of his gym bag even though he wasn’t present at the time. … Continue reading
CA9: Parole search includes the car the parolee was driving when stopped
Defendant’s argument that a parole search of a parolee driving a car can’t include the car is rejected. A gun was found hidden under the cover the of gearshift lever. United States v. Bautista, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4798 (9th … Continue reading
OH5: Defendant didn’t rebut the presumption of regularity of the warrant
Defendant didn’t rebut the presumption of regularity of the warrant. “There is a presumption of regularity when an arrest or a search is authorized by a warrant. A judicial officer has conducted a prior review of the facts and circumstances … Continue reading
D.S.D.: Passenger’s unexplained flight from car was abandonment of his backpack
In a traffic stop, the passenger fled for no apparent reason. The backpack he left behind was abandoned property. Officers waited for his return before searching it. United States v. Nowak, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35351 (D.S.D. March 19, 2015), … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: Hotel room qualified as temporary residence for parole search
A parolee was staying in a hotel room between residences, and the officers had probable cause to believe that evidence of counterfeiting would be found there. Therefore, the hotel room qualified as a temporary residence subject to parole search. United … Continue reading
E.D.Mich.: Where parole search required RS, anonymous tip consistent with other violation information was enough
A parole search under Michigan law only requires reasonable suspicion. An anonymous tip in the past has been held not enough. Here, however, the anonymous telephone tip was consistent with some of defendant’s parole violations, so here it’s enough. United … Continue reading
IN: Walking drug dog through house as a probation search was reasonable
Probation searches in Indiana can be by any law enforcement officer on reasonable suspicion, and defendant was on electronic monitoring at home. Such searches are always governed by reasonableness, and the court does not find it unreasonable to walk a … Continue reading
CO: Juvie probation wouldn’t be deterred by suppressing DNA taken in violation of statute
Taking a DNA swab from a juvenile on probation violated the state statute on juvenile probation, but the court declines to suppress the evidence because probation officers cannot be deterred from committing such statutory violations. “Juvenile probation officers performing a … Continue reading