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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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© 2003-23,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 350,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (25,700+ on WordPress as of 12/31/22)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and linksLatest Slip Opinions:
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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)
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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NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
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Section 1983 Blog"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me“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!”
"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."
---Pepé Le Pew
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948)
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Category Archives: Drones
E.D.N.C.: SW needed for drone surveillance over a home
A request for a court order for drone surveillance over a home requires a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. A request under the All Writs Act isn’t the way to do it. In re Application of the United States For … Continue reading
MI: Even if using a drone to take pictures in zoning dispute violated 4A, exclusionary rule does not apply, and the action below was remedial not punitive
The use of a drone to take pictures by a city contractor in case over a zoning ordinance violation probably did not violate any Fourth Amendment right. But even if it did, the exclusionary rule should not apply in this … Continue reading
D.C.Cir.: FAA drone registration requirement violates no REP
The FAA rule requiring all drones when flying to transmit information about themselves violates no reasonable expectation of privacy. They operate in public airspace, which the federal government controls, and the rule requires a digital license plate but only electronically … Continue reading
MI drone over curtilage case update
In the Michigan drone over the curtilage case (posted here), Long Lake Twp. v. Maxon, the parties are directed to brief application of the exclusionary rule to zoning disputes:
MI: City’s use of drone photos in zoning dispute violated homeowner’s REP
The township’s use of a drone to fly over defendant’s property to take pictures for a zoning dispute violated their reasonable expectation of privacy. The state legislature said that they have one from drone usage. Long Lake Twp. v. Maxon, … Continue reading
Forbes: Drones With ‘Most Advanced AI Ever’ Coming Soon To Your Local Police Department
Forbes: Drones With ‘Most Advanced AI Ever’ Coming Soon To Your Local Police Department by Thomas Brewster (“Founded by Google veterans and backed by $340 million from major VCs, Skydio is creating drones that seem straight out of science fiction—and … Continue reading
NYTimes: Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves
NYTimes: Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves by Cade Metz (“In one Southern California city, flying drones with artificial intelligence are aiding investigations while presenting new civil rights questions.”)
Vox: Recode: Amazon’s surveillance cameras fly now — which is unsettling
Vox: Recode: Amazon’s surveillance cameras fly now — which is unsettling (“Amazon has announced a new way for consumers to surveil their own homes: a camera-equipped drone that connects to Ring security systems. Ring, which Amazon owns, has a history … Continue reading
CNN: Police used drones to monitor nudity at a Minnesota beach
CNN: Police used drones to monitor nudity at a Minnesota beach by Jay Croft (“Police near Minneapolis used drones last week to check if sunbathers at a lakeside beach were breaking the law by going nude or topless. The Golden … Continue reading
CNET: Homeland Security used aircraft to surveil BLM protests in 15 cities
CNET: Homeland Security used aircraft to surveil BLM protests in 15 cities by Corinne Reichert “(And some 270 hours of surveillance footage was broadcast live to a Customs and Border Protection control room.”)
NYTimes: Council Forces N.Y.P.D. to Disclose Use of Drones and Other Spy Tech
NYTimes: Council Forces N.Y.P.D. to Disclose Use of Drones and Other Spy Tech by Alan Feuer (“The bill, which the mayor is likely to sign, compels the police to disclose the technology they use and data they collect.”)
Miami Herald: From above, Miami-Dade police drone recorded crack cocaine sale live. It’s a first, cops say
Miami Herald: From above, Miami-Dade police drone recorded crack cocaine sale live. It’s a first, cops say by David Ovalle:
NYTimes: The F.A.A. Wants to Start Tracking Drones’ Locations
NYTimes: The F.A.A. Wants to Start Tracking Drones’ Locations by Heather Murphy (“A proposal would require most drones flying in American airspace to include technology that would allow the government to keep tabs on them.”)
JDSupra (press release): DOJ Announces New Drone Policy
JDSupra (press release): DOJ Announces New Drone Policy by Kelly Daly
WaPo: Maryland police drones aid in searches, crash investigations, but raise privacy concerns
WaPo: Maryland police drones aid in searches, crash investigations, but raise privacy concerns by Alison Knezevich:
WSJ: The Next Big Privacy Concern Is Up in the Air
WSJ: The Next Big Privacy Concern Is Up in the Air Katy McLaughlin: As more drones take flight, wealthy homeowners grapple with how to shield themselves from prying eyes in the sky
Law.com: What’s Next: Thinking About Privacy Post-Carpenter + Getting Ahead of Drone Law
Law.com: What’s Next: Thinking About Privacy Post-Carpenter + Getting Ahead of Drone Law by ALM Staff: We caught up with USC law professor Orin Kerr to talk about the pressures that digital technology places on the Fourth Amendment and where … Continue reading
Crime Report: Drones and the Fourth Amendment: Do ‘Eyes in the Sky’ See Too Much?
Crime Report: Drones and the Fourth Amendment: Do ‘Eyes in the Sky’ See Too Much? by Lauren Sonnenberg:
Cato blog: What’s That Buzzing Overhead? It’s An OSHA Drone
Cato blog: What’s That Buzzing Overhead? It’s An OSHA Drone by Walter Olson:
