Archives
-
Recent Posts
- CA3: Ptf was arrested on an apparent but recalled warrant, then officers confirmed it and let him go; the arrest was reasonable
- N.D.Ohio: Failure to serve state SW within state mandated time not 4A violation
- NY1: Gunshot through floor from apartment above was exigency
- Reason: Most Civil Forfeiture Victims Never See the Inside of a Courtroom
- CA8: Admission of anonymous tip that led to stop violated Confrontation Clause
-
-
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: Scope of search
N.D.Iowa: A “Brinks box” in the house being searched with a warrant for drugs was subject to the search
A “Brinks box” in the house being searched with a warrant for drugs was subject to the search. United States v. Simmermaker, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199422 (N.D. Iowa Oct. 25, 2019), adopted, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198379 (N.D. Iowa … Continue reading
VA: Def lacked standing in the car of his passenger he was driving
Defendant was driving a car that belonged to his passenger, and it was legitimately stopped because of an expired tag. The court gave a long exposé of property rights and standing useful in the future, but not for him because … Continue reading
D.Idaho: Small business owner with 90% share has standing to challenge search of entire premises
As a 90% owner of a small business and the building in which it was located, an investment firm (and disregarding the assets they managed), he had standing to challenge the entirety of the search of the premises, not just … Continue reading
NE: Where the smell of MJ justifies the search, the finding of a small quantity doesn’t require the search end
Defendant’s stop was for over-tinted windows. The officer could smell burnt marijuana, and he searched finding some in the console. Finding that, he was not obligated to stop searching. State v. Valentine, 27 Neb. App. 332, 2019 Neb. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
N.D.Ill.: Franks challenge requires there was a SW
Defense counsel wasn’t ineffective for not seeking a Franks hearing where there was no search warrant in the first place. Freeman v. United States, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 187171 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 29, 2019). Defendant’s general consent to search a … Continue reading
MN: A white cloth sought in a SW for evidence of sexual assault permitted seizure of a blue and white one
Defendant was accused of sexual assault, and a “white dish towel-like cloth” was likely a source of DNA evidence. A search warrant was obtained. Executing the warrant, officers saw a blue and white dish-towel-like cloth. The trial court suppressed it. … Continue reading
DE: SW for drugs allows search anywhere drugs may be hidden
A search warrant for drugs authorizes a search any place where drugs may be hidden. The fact other things are found that are evidence allows their seizure, too. Jackson v. State, 2019 Del. LEXIS 456 (Oct. 8, 2019). U.S. Probation … Continue reading
PA: SW for entire house for activities of one living there included roommate’s separate room
“We granted discretionary review to determine whether a search warrant for an entire multi-bedroom residence shared by appellant, Dylan Scott Turpin, and his roommate, Benjamin Kato Irvin, was constitutionally permissible under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and … Continue reading
WaPo: Pollen ‘nerds’: U.S. government enlists scientists to track drug loads, crack cold cases
WaPo: Pollen ‘nerds’: U.S. government enlists scientists to track drug loads, crack cold cases by Nick Miroff:
D.Mass.: GFE applies to scope of search under SW where place to be searched was two floors, not one
The issue here is whether the search warrant was overbroad because it turned out that the place to be searched was really two floors not one, but it wasn’t obvious from the outside. “The Court need not resolve this complex … Continue reading
CA11: Ptf’s excessive force claim overcomes QI; his facts show clearly established law violated
Defendants were properly denied qualified immunity in using excessive force to arrest plaintiff. Plaintiff’s version of the facts showed clearly established rights were violated. Heck v. Humphrey didn’t apply because plaintiff wasn’t seeking to attack his conviction. Cendan v. Trujillo, … Continue reading
D.Kan. Throwing a pouch onto a roof when climbing a fence in flight from the police is abandonment
Throwing a black pouch onto the roof of a building in flight from the police as he climbed over a fence was abandonment. United States v. Gaines, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134303 (D. Kan. Aug. 9, 2019).* The search warrant … Continue reading
CA8: Camper next to house was covered by SW for house
Defendant’s camper was on the curtilage right next to the house and connected by “living debris” [junk?], and “not noticeably separate from the garage, it was covered by the search warrant, whether or not it was a vehicle for Fourth … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: No evidence defendant “is a collector of child pornography,” so no PC; remanded for factual determination of GFE
The government did not show probable cause to believe that child pornography was on defendant’s electronic devices. The officer’s experience is one thing, but no facts suggest that defendant “is a collector of child pornography.” The record is inadequate to … Continue reading
N.D.Cal.: Govt bears burden of showing attachment limiting search was actually attached, and it failed
For the government to rely on the good faith exception by claiming the attachment limiting the warrant was attached to the search warrant, it bears the burden of showing that, and it didn’t. United States v. Chang, 2019 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
PA: Scope of search argument not preserved below
The scope of search authorized under the warrant wasn’t preserved below, so it’s waived for appeal. Commonwealth v. Handley, 2019 PA Super 201, 2019 Pa. Super. LEXIS 638 (June 28, 2019). The affidavit for search warrant was not “bare bones” … Continue reading
MN: Search of rented room in single family dwelling was reasonable under SW; it wasn’t apparent it was rented
In a stipulated evidence suppression hearing, defendant did not preserve the issue he presents for appeal. Going to the merits anyway, defendant claimed that his rented room in what was, for all appearances, a single family dwelling was reasonable. The … Continue reading
D.N.M.: When PC is based on an IP address, any computer or cell phone on the premises can be the subject of the SW
Any computer or cell phone on the premises can reasonably be believed to have connected to the internet. “Nevertheless, Ms. Laurezo does not cite to any authority that requires a search warrant based on an IP address being used to … Continue reading
D.Minn.: SW for house that includes def’s car if “near” is constitutionally sufficient
The search warrant for defendant’s house included his car if found “near,” and it was not overbroad. It might have better for there to be a search warrant just for the car, too, but that’s not constitutionally required. United States … Continue reading