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- CA6: State officer’s arrest for violation of federal MJ law likely wouldn’t violate 4A
- D.N.M.: Shared driveway outside of fence and gate was not curtilage
- CA6: Knowing passcode to cell phone shows common authority over it to consent
- VI: Smell of MJ no longer PC in VI since legalization
- Reason: 3 Charlotte Cops Resign After Group Chat Reveals Competition To Arrest the Most Black People
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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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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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)
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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: Reasonableness
W.D.Mo.: Govt couldn’t rely on Strieff where there was no RS to begin with
The government’s motion to reconsider is denied. It can’t justify the stop under Strieff because “[a]t the time the officer activated his lights and ordered Mullins to approach, he not only lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct a Terry stop, he … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: Def’s jacket was subject to search incident even though he was handcuffed and couldn’t reach it
Defendant’s jacket was subject to search incident, and his handcuffing didn’t eliminate the officer’s ability to do so. United States v. Certain, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42273 (E.D. Ky. Mar. 11, 2020), adopting, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44077 (E.D. Ky. … Continue reading
W.D.Ky.: Even if putting key in lock violated Jardines, its use in SW application was in good faith
Pre-Jardines case law held that putting a key in a lock wasn’t a search. Here, the police did that to help establish probable cause. Whether Jardines changed that rule or not, it’s not decided here because the good faith exception … Continue reading
NC: Ordering traffic detainee to get in police car and shut door after stop should have been over unreasonably extended it
The officer unreasonably extended the stop past the time for resolving the alleged traffic violations. He told defendant to get into the police car, and defendant did, but left the passenger door open with his right leg out. The officer … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Tracking warrant issue date was a typo; whether state law was complied with doesn’t matter in federal court
The tracking warrant issue date was mistaken. The court finds it was the latter of two dates, and the tracking occurred for only five days, within the requirements of Rule 41(e)(2)(C). Whether the tracking warrant complied with state law is … Continue reading
SC: Search of cell phone abandoned at crime scene was reasonable since just to determine ownership
A shooting occurred in a Taco Bell parking lot, apparently a drug deal gone bad. Three cell phones were found in the car. The police searched them without a warrant and one was defendants. The state argued abandonment (which it … Continue reading
IN: Having def manipulate his clothing and remove his shoes was a search, not a safety frisk for weapons
The search of defendant was not for officer safety where the officer told defendant to move his clothing around because, if he was armed, he would be putting his hands on the weapon. The order to remove his shoes also … Continue reading
CA5: A dead man is not one of the “people” of the 4A
The estate of a dead man has no Fourth Amendment claim for a search warrant allegedly unreasonably obtained after the death for aggravated assault by the deceased allegedly “‘as a pretext for investigation into [Mr.] Blanchard’s history’ and to ‘besmirch … Continue reading
OH12: Officer’s objectively reasonable mistake as to traffic violation will support stop
The dashcam didn’t catch defendant’s lane violation because the officer saw it through the driver’s window. The trial court credited that a traffic violation supported the stop. Even an objectively reasonable mistake as to the traffic offense supports the stop, … Continue reading
CA11: 49 days for presentment to a USMJ after arrest on the high seas of a foreign national wasn’t unreasonable
“In this drug trafficking case under the MDLEA, we too must follow Verdugo-Urquidez and conclude that defendant Guagua-Alarcon, who is a non U.S. citizen and non-U.S. resident, and who has no significant connection to the United States, cannot challenge under … Continue reading
techdirt: Supreme Court Asked To Tell Cops That Consenting To A Search Is Not Consenting To Having Your Home Destroyed
techdirt: Supreme Court Asked To Tell Cops That Consenting To A Search Is Not Consenting To Having Your Home Destroyed by Tim Cushing:
D.Mont.: Def was arrested for DUI; so, already detained, a dog sniff wasn’t unreasonable
Defendant was arrested for DUI, and the court finds, based on United States v. Hunnicutt, 135 F.3d 1345, 1350 (10th Cir. 1998), that “detention of the driver at the scene to accomplish a canine sniff is generally reasonable where the … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Reasonable mistake of fact def’s license was invalid doesn’t void the stop; smell of MJ led to search
The officer’s reasonable mistake of fact defendant’s license was invalid doesn’t void the stop. “In sum, Detective Maniskas was sufficiently diligent in his investigation of Qualls’ licenses. The fact that Qualls’ license was actually valid has no impact on Maniskas’ … Continue reading
CA6: Frisk for eating out of a dumpster was unreasonable
Plaintiff’s frisk for eating out of a dumpster was unreasonable. He wasn’t committing any crime. Jones v. City of ElyriaJones v. City of ElyriaJones v. City of Elyria, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 1609 (6th Cir. Jan. 17, 2020).* There was … Continue reading
DE: Question about “Anything illegal in the car: Human beings, guns, drugs, dead bodies in the trunk” wasn’t unreasonable and didn’t measurably extend the stop.
Officer’s routine question about “Anything illegal in the car: Human beings, guns, drugs, dead bodies in the trunk” wasn’t unreasonable and didn’t measurably extend the stop. State v. Medina, 2020 Del. Super. LEXIS 18 (Jan. 7, 2020):
D.Me.: State bail condition that def submit to searches permitted this search
Defendant’s state court bail condition included that he submit to reasonable searches of his person and place at anytime. There’s no showing that he didn’t understand the condition. United States v. Kissh, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3767 (D. Me. Jan. … Continue reading
M.D.Pa. Delay in searching cell phones wasn’t unreasonable because def was in jail out of possession anyway
The delay between seizing defendant’s cell phones and searching them wasn’t unreasonable considering he was in jail and would have had no access to them anyway. United States v. Carey, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1150 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 6, 2020). … Continue reading
W.D.N.Y.: No PC for arrest or SW; GFE hearing wasn’t concluded, and it shall now
The defendant’s arrest on this thin claim from an unproven and unreliable CI was without probable cause, and the search of his person is suppressed. The search warrant was also issued without probable cause, but the part of the hearing … Continue reading
E.D.Ark.: Def’s parole search permitted at his mother’s house while he was visiting there; no REP
Defendant claims in his 2255 that, while he was on parole with a search waiver on file, he was searched at his mother’s house and not at his listed address, and his counsel was ineffective for not challenging it. He … Continue reading
IL: Def had done nothing wrong; RS could not be based on reaching for pocket when officer asked for DL
Defendant’s patdown was not justified by reasonable suspicion because defendant was a random person at a gas pump, he answered the officer’s questions, did not try to flee, and reached for his pocket as the officer asked for his driver’s … Continue reading