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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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
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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
LA4: Protective sweep before def arrested in pajamas reentered to get dressed was reasonable
Defendant was arrested in his pajamas, and it was appropriate for the police to conduct a protective sweep for others before he was permitted to get dressed to leave. A shotgun was validly found propped against the wall in the … Continue reading
WA: Ex parte order freezing criminal def’s bank account was not functional equivalent of a SW and unreasonable
An ex parte order to freeze a bank account of a theft suspect violated the Washington Constitution because bank records are protected there. The trial court’s order was without legal authority, and it was not the functional equivalent of a … Continue reading
TX6: “[U]nder Rodriguez, Fourth Amendment considerations are both qualitative and temporal”
The smell of marijuana on defendant’s clothing noticed during the traffic stop and his heavily sweating during the stop although the temperature was in the high 20’s to low 30’s and travel plans that were suspicious all added up to … Continue reading
IL: When a stop is based on an “investigative alert,” the basis has to be shown to be reasonable; here, the state couldn’t
Defendant was stopped on an “investigative alert,” which would have been sufficient if there was reasonable suspicion under the collective knowledge doctrine. There was no showing of the basis for the alert, and the stop was thus without reasonable suspicion … Continue reading
CA6: Def’s failure to submit to officer’s show of authority showed it was not a seizure
“The United States appeals the district court’s order suppressing a firearm found in defendant Samuel Johnson’s car during a traffic stop. The district court ruled that because the police had unconstitutionally seized Johnson before he rolled through a stop sign, … Continue reading
IA: Use of siren and commands about where to stand during stop was a seizure
“Here, the evidence establishes that Officer Aljets exercised his authority to request Williams stop, rendering the encounter a seizure. The officer testified he ‘hit the siren horn’ which made a ‘whoop whoop’ sound in order to get Williams’s attention. The … Continue reading
ID: Auto search doesn’t have to stop where items in plain view were seized
Observation of contraband in plain view justified a search of a vehicle. The officer did not have to stop when he seized that which was first seen. State v. Anderson, 2015 Ida. App. LEXIS 118 (Nov. 17, 2015). Defendant was … Continue reading
GA: Overlong stop was reasonable here because officer was dealing with two cars
Defendant was not seized, although the stop was long. There was another driver in another car also being dealt with, and the officer had to get another to the scene. Defendant was never told he was under arrest, nor was … Continue reading
CA10: Seizure of def’s unlabeled bag from Amtrak baggage car to carry it through train was a Fourth Amendment seizure
Defendant was riding Amtrak from Los Angeles which stops in Albuquerque. As usual, the DEA boarded the train. After a walk through they seized defendant’s unlabeled bag from the baggage car and carried it through the train looking for its … Continue reading
D.D.C.: Asking a man on the street to pull up shirt to expose waistband is not a seizure
Under D.C.Cir. case law, an officer driving by a person in a high crime area and asking him to pull up his shirt or expose his waistband is not a seizure. Here, officers did that with a small group and … Continue reading
TN: Motion for return of property doesn’t require a motion to suppress and can come after judgment
A state motion for return of property does not require a motion to suppress. “Additionally, the State’s argument that the trial court lacks jurisdiction because the judgment has become final is misplaced. The Defendant is not seeking to challenge his … Continue reading
UT: Police car’s overhead lights usually mean seizure to the motorist the police car is behind
A police car’s overhead lights can be ambiguous, but, to the motorist, they mean you are stopped and should not attempt to leave. It’s common knowledge the consequences of not staying stopped could be severe. Defendant was thus stopped, but … Continue reading
CA6: Officers’ civil assist ended up in stating a claim in the retaking of a car
Officers were on a civil assist in aiding repossession of a car that was involved in a family dispute going back and forth for a couple of years. “Viewing the record in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, we agree … Continue reading
DC: Custody for Miranda and Fifth Amendment purposes may be different than custody for Fourth Amendment purposes
Custody for Miranda and Fifth Amendment purposes may be different than custody for Fourth Amendment purposes. Morton v. United States, 2015 D.C. App. LEXIS 516 (Oct. 29, 2015):
OH9: Ordering a person out of a car at gunpoint after a stop is a seizure
Ordering a person out of a car at gunpoint after a stop is a seizure even if based on an alleged furtive movement. The stop was based on a robbery report, and this vehicle was more than a half mile … Continue reading
OH7: Burning MJ coming from an apartment is a misdemeanor and not sufficient exigency to enter
Police answered a loud music call at 5 am in an apartment building, and they could smell burning marijuana outside defendant’s apartment door. Burning marijuana is a misdemeanor and not sufficient exigency for a police entry. A 1995 Ohio case … Continue reading
IL: A forced chemical test of the blood two days after an accident was after the reduced REP of a driver had lapsed
A chemical test of appellant’s blood violated the Fourth Amendment because the police sought a chemical test two days after the car accident when plaintiff no longer had a diminished expectation of privacy. McElwain v. Office of the Ill. Secy. … Continue reading
CA2: Ordering a person to leave a courthouse is likely not a seizure, but grabbing his collar and forcing him to move is a seizure
Ordering a person to leave a courthouse is likely not a seizure. Grabbing his collar and forcing him to move is a seizure. It is subject to the reasonableness requirement. Salmon v. Blesser, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 16070 (2d Cir. … Continue reading
E.D.Pa.: IAC claim has to say what def counsel didn’t try to suppress
An ineffective assistance claim that says defense counsel was ineffective for failing to move to suppress without saying what should have been suppressed states no claim at all. [It would also have to say that it would have been granted … Continue reading