September 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Archives
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Recent Posts
- WaPo: Americans have turned against police cameras that track license plates, new survey shows
- W.D.Tex.: What is the duty of the neutral and detached magistrate?
- D.Me.: Yes, more investigation could have been done, but there’s still PC on what there was
- CA3: Brady doesn’t apply to SW materials
- E.D.Mich.: Person a cell phone was given to as gift could consent to search
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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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FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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General (many free):
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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)
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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
Privacy Foundation
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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: Seizure
CA1 seems to shift burden of proof to defendant to show that his detention was unreasonable because of a show of authority
The First Circuit seems to shift burden of proof to defendant to show that his detention was unreasonable because of a show of authority, rather than it being on the government that it was reasonable. United States v. Fields, 2016 … Continue reading
FL5: Passenger can be detained with car; certifying conflict with FL4
“We affirm, and write to consider whether a police officer may, as a matter of course, detain a passenger who attempts to leave the scene of a lawful traffic stop without violating the passenger’s Fourth Amendment rights. … We hold … Continue reading
ID: “There is no constitutional right not to be mistaken for a criminal. ‘The Constitution does not guarantee that only the guilty will be arrested.'”
Plaintiff was a sublessee of a dental office laboratory but was seen breaking in through a window by a neighbor who called 911. Police arrived and the reporter said the woman appeared drunk or on drugs. The first officer to … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: State exceptions to GFE don’t apply in federal court even where state judge issued SW
A Georgia state judge issued this search warrant, and it was supported by probable cause. In any event, the good faith exception saves it. Any exception to the good faith exception under Georgia law is irrelevant in a federal prosecution. … Continue reading
TN: Passing the FST didn’t negate PC; bloodshot and watery eyes, smelled of alcohol, admitted to 3 beers
Passing the FST didn’t negate probable cause. The officer observed defendant speeding, and, when the officer approached defendant he smelled alcohol, defendant had bloodshot and watery eyes, and defendant told the officer he had consumed three beers. State v. Silva, … Continue reading
Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph: High court ruling threatens to end ‘Santa Stops’
Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph: High court ruling threatens to end ‘Santa Stops’ by Samantha Perry: PRINCETON — A recent high court ruling threatened to put the brakes on the popular law enforcement “Santa Stops,” however local troopers have found a … Continue reading
IL: GJ subpoena for palm prints in cold case didn’t violate Fourth Amendment
A grand jury subpoena was used to get defendant’s palm prints while he was in prison in 2004 to see whether he was connected to a 1997 murder. The grand jury subpoena did not violate the Fourth Amendment or the … Continue reading
Texas Tribune: Some Communities Arming Officers With Credit Card Machines
Texas Tribune: Some Communities Arming Officers With Credit Card Machines by Johnathan Silver: If a California-based company has its way, the following scenario could become common across Texas: A police officer pulls over a driver, not for speeding or some … Continue reading
IA: State SCt hasn’t departed from holding exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to revo proceedings so this court can’t
While the state search and seizure provision is subject to broader interpretation in Iowa, the state supreme court hasn’t deviated from the rule that the exclusionary rule does not apply in probation revocation proceedings, so this court is bound by … Continue reading
IN: Refusal to stop for “Hey, I need to talk to you,” didn’t justify an arrest
Refusal to stop for “Hey, I need to talk to you,” didn’t justify an arrest in Indiana. It wasn’t a stop to flee from. Miller v. State, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 33 (Feb. 9, 2016). Defendant’s stop for criminal trespass … Continue reading
D.Nev.: Since possession of neither shotgun nor hypodermic needle are crimes, stop invalid
Police received a call about a man passed out in a Lexus in a parking lot with a hypodermic needle sticking in his arm and a shotgun next to him. When they got there, defendant was out of the car, … Continue reading
CA11: Miami’s seizure and destruction of ptf’s “ugly” sailboat stated a 4A claim under Soldal
Plaintiff lived on his sailboat in the City of Miami on state waters. He was stopped by marine officers who complained of his lack of property sanitary facilities and not having a good enough anchor light. They accused him of … Continue reading
IL: When a vehicle is stopped because of a warrant on owner, even when discovered owner not driving, officer can ask for DL
Defendant’s van was pulled over because there was a warrant for the owner, a woman. The man driving could not be the owner, and the officer asked for his DL, which was permissible and lawfully incident to the stop under … Continue reading
CA11: You can’t sue over a public official trying to copy a document you claim gives you authority to enter the building
Plaintiff came into a Florida Town Hall with a videographer in tow with a purported “court order” from Atlantic City NJ allegedly authorizing copying of records. When an official tried to copy the order, plaintiff grabbed it from the copier, … Continue reading
D.N.H.: Seizure of a pseudo-fireman’s camera for impersonating a first responder didn’t violate First or Fourth Amendments [Updated: aff’d 12/23/16]
Seizure of the named plaintiff photographer’s camera for evidence of his impersonating a first responder at the scene of a fatal accident for potential proof of the offense failed to state a claim under the First or Fourth Amendments. Plaintiff … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: Gun abandoned in flight from police wasn’t the product of an illegal seizure
Abandoned firearm in flight from the police in an allegedly illegal stop isn’t a seizure, and the gun is admissible. United States v. Giles, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200 (W.D.Pa. Jan. 4, 2016).* The CI’s tip was that he’d seen … Continue reading
D.Nev.: “[T]he government does not require probable cause to ‘search’ its own records.”
Assuming defendant had standing to a residence as an overnight guest, the police had specific information linking him to the residence and probable cause for a search warrant. A check of DMV records on him did not require probable cause. … Continue reading
CA4: Def did not comply with police commands and wasn’t seized until after he dropped his gun
Defendant was about to be seized when the police car pulled up behind his parked car with emergency lights and officers approached. He got out of his car with gun in hand, at first ignoring police commands, and then he … Continue reading