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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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General (many free):
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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)
--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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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)
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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
S.D.N.Y.: Former President’s name in SW materials for Parnas and Giuliani disclosed because it came up in an impeachment
In Lev Parnas’s case, the search papers are partially unsealed as to former President Trump’s name but kept under seal as to others. He is a public figure, and the others are not. As to Trump, most of this came … Continue reading
N.D.Okla.: A Terry stop can occur for civil infractions
A Terry stop can occur for noncriminal offenses, such as traffic citations. Here it was for vaping in the wrong place. United States v. Perez, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218640 (N.D. Okla. Dec. 8, 2023). Volunteering one is armed “when … Continue reading
D.Ariz.: Federal wildlife officer can make speeding stop in national wildlife refuge
A federal wildlife officer has the authority to make a stop for speeding in a national wildlife refuge under 50 C.F.R. § 27.31(a), (d). [Virginia v. Moore goes unmentioned: The stop would not violate the Fourth Amendment in any event.] … Continue reading
CA3: Two minutes for a criminal records check during a traffic stop was reasonable under Rodriguez
“Law enforcement officers conduct traffic stops every day. No matter how minor the apparent infraction, every traffic stop must comply with the Fourth Amendment. It wraps every person, and every traffic stop, with a cloak of constitutional protection. The Fourth … Continue reading
OH8: Extraterritorial stop by LEO doesn’t violate 4A, and exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to statutory violations
An extraterritorial stop by an officer does not violate the Fourth Amendment. The exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to statutory violations, here especially because of public safety concerns. City of Fairview Park v. Bowman, 2023-Ohio-4210, 2023 Ohio App. LEXIS 4047 (8th … Continue reading
CA11: The bodycam video showed the altercation with ptf and hospital security was reasonable
The bodycam video of plaintiff’s altercation with two hospital security guards showed they were entitled to qualified immunity. Scott v. Harris. Bouvier v. City of Covington, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 30822 (11th Cir. Nov. 20, 2023).* In excessive force cases, … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Even though stop showed def wasn’t impaired, DL and LPN could still be run
Even though defendant apparently wasn’t driving impaired, once validly stopped, the officer could run DL and LPN checks. The dog sniff didn’t prolong the stop at all. United States v. Drayton, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206461 (N.D. Iowa Oct. 10, … Continue reading
D.Haw.: State officers allegedly violating state law in warrant process or execution irrelevant under 4A
The fact state officers might have violated state law in executing the warrant wasn’t material to the Fourth Amendment reasonableness requirement. United States v. Miske, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 203981 (D. Haw. Nov. 14, 2023).* There was reasonable suspicion or … Continue reading
NM: Too vague a description wasn’t RS for this stop, one mile from crime scene, 37-40 minutes later, vague description of car
“We view the totality of the circumstances at the time Deputy Ruiz seized Defendant through the lens of the district court’s factual finding that the suspect did not hide, as our standard of review requires. Based on the passage of … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: That state arrest warrant was unsigned is not a 4A violation
A violation of state law on arrest warrant papers doesn’t per se make a Fourth Amendment violation. “There is no Fourth Amendment requirement that a state criminal complaint for an arrest warrant be signed, or even that the warrant itself … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: Whether DTF officer could make speeding stops was a reasonable mistake of law under Heien
The task force officer involved allegedly wasn’t authorized to make speeding traffic stops, but this was a reasonable mistake of law under Heien. United States v. Shepherd, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181976 (N.D. Ala. Oct. 10, 2023). The bulge in … Continue reading
DE: When the search is overbroad, the remedy is to limit the product of the search not void it
When the search is overbroad, the remedy is to limit the product of the search not void it. Thomas v. State, 2023 Del. LEXIS 318 (Oct. 2, 2023). There was plenty of information from the CI on which to justify … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Employee has no standing in office common area
Under Mancusi v. Deforte, an employee has no standing in the open area of the office where he or she works, as opposed to one’s private office. United States v. Johnson, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154559 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 31, 2023). … Continue reading
CA6: Standing required in a § 1983 case
Plaintiff didn’t have standing to raise someone else’s rights in a § 1983 case. Appeal dismissed. Jordan v. City of Toledo, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 22063 (6th Cir. Aug. 21, 2023). Drug officers’ executing search warrants and stealing property was … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Penn State’s Covid testing was reasonable under the 4A
The University’s Covid-19 testing does not violate the Fourth Amendment. Roman Cath. Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 141 S. Ct. 63, 67, 208 L. Ed. 2d 206 (2020) (“Stemming the spread of COVID-19 is a compelling interest.”); Klaassen v. Trs. … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Dispatch’s reasonable mistake in reporting on arrest warrant doesn’t violate 4A
A reasonable mistake by dispatch in reporting on an arrest warrant doesn’t violate the Fourth Amendment. Under Heien, “Reasonability is not equivalent to perfection, and so the Fourth Amendment allows for officials to make some mistakes, giving them ‘fair leeway … Continue reading
OH10: Officer’s lack of knowledge of Covid extension of licenses was not reasonable mistake under Heien
The officer’s mistake of law in not knowing that an executive order that vehicle licenses expiring during Covid March 9, 2020 to December 1, 2020 remained valid was unreasonable under Heien. Heien requires ambiguity, and this wasn’t. Also, an unreasonable … Continue reading