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Recent Posts
- D.Mont.: Delay of USPS Express Mail for dog sniff didn’t violate 4A
- S.D.W.Va.: Warrantless arrest at door for CSAM didn’t support plain view seizure of cell phone
- OH2: Parking on the grass justified stop
- CA11: NCMEC’s cybertips are reliable enough to support PC and the GFE
- MS: Execution style murder in public in broad daylight was exigency to get suspect’s CSLI
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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)
--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: Overbreadth
Two on alleged overbreadth
The Facebook warrant was kind of overbroad but was determined valid as a whole. “So as in Purcell, ‘the structure of the warrant rendered the specification of the suspected offense, while constitutionally indispensable, functionally unnecessary.’ Purcell, 967 F.3d at 183.” … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: “Days-old sale” of ½ ounce of marijuana didn’t justify wholesale search of records at home
The affidavit for search warrant based on an uncorroborated CI for sale of a ½ ounce of marijuana failed to show probable cause and it did not justify a search for virtually every document in the house or on his … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: iCloud SW temporal limit was impractical
An iCloud search warrant was not overbroad because the warrant sought a lot of material. Based on Apple’s protocols, it essentially had to be, and a time restriction wouldn’t be of any use. United States v. Woolard, 2021 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
GA: CSLI lawfully obtained in 2013 was subject to GFE
The acquisition of defendant’s CSLI in 2013 followed law at the time and was reasonable, and the good faith exception applied. Carpenter came four years after the trial. Lofton v. State, 2021 Ga. LEXIS 28 (Feb. 15, 2021). The officers … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: The part of the SW for drugs was severable and without PC; drugs found, however, were in plain view in stolen property search
The affidavit for this search warrant didn’t show probable cause to search for drugs, but it did for stolen property. Severing that part, when the officers searched for stolen property, they found drugs, and they were thus in plain view. … Continue reading
MA: SW for CSLI for too much time was severable
The search warrant for too many hours of CSLI was overbroad: “The collection of extended CSLI data raises significant constitutional concerns.” Three hours is all that could be shown was necessary. The overbroad part, however, could be severed, and suppression … Continue reading
KY: Affidavit for the SW limited the breadth of cell phone warrant
While the search warrant for defendant’s cell phone was arguably overbroad and not well drafted, it was limited by the affidavit in support as to the specific things to be sought. Tucker v. Commonwealth, 2020 Ky. App. LEXIS 112 (Oct. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Preliminary search of electronic device to look for likely places to search was reasonable
A preliminary search of an electronic device under a warrant was permissible to determine what folders on it might be responsive to the search warrant without it being overbroad. United States v. Weigand, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158771 (S.D. N.Y. … Continue reading
N.D.Ill. rejects geofence warrant for cell phone and owner data as overbroad
A third geofence warrant to attempt to determine who was around stolen prescription medication. It too is denied as overbroad. In re Search of Info. Stored at Premises Controlled by Google, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152712 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 24, … Continue reading
OH2: The fact a SW had a laundry list of 182 things to search for and seize isn’t fatal where def doesn’t show what was overseized
The search warrant here was for illegal fireworks and listed 182 items to be seized, including fireworks. “Johnson also contends the warrant is invalid because it authorized the seizure of a boilerplate list of 182 items, all or most of … Continue reading
DC: Cell phone SW was overbroad and exceeded the PC; no GFE
“We conclude that Mr. Burns has established violations of his rights under both the Fourth and the Sixth Amendments. Police sought search warrants that authorized an unlimited review of the contents of his cell phones for “any evidence” of murder … Continue reading
CA9: Police following a blood trail onto curtilage after recent crime was exigency
The district court concluded defendant had no standing to challenge a tribal police search of the curtilage of his grandmother’s house where he was an overnight guest. Assuming, without deciding, he has standing, there was clear and obvious exigency for … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: SW can compel persons present at time of seizure of cellphone to provide biometrics to unlock it on mere RS; PC not required
“Modern day biometric authentication features for electronic devices allow once trivial gestures, such as a momentary stare or touch, to be the barrier between the outside world and an individual’s most intimate, private details. The United States has applied for … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: A filter team is required for execution of an allegedly overbroad SW
A filter team isn’t required just because a Facebook account search warrant is alleged to be overbroad. United States v. Sam, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79023 (W.D. Wash. May 5, 2020). Hearsay in a search warrant isn’t less believable solely … Continue reading
CA11: 911 call about def threatening people with a gun in his house justified protective sweep
A 911 call reported that defendant pointed a gun at two people and threatened them in his house. Responding, they talked to the victims outside. They entered to do a protective sweep for the weapon, and saw drugs. They got … Continue reading
DE: SW for CSLI in murder case was overbroad as to seizures more than 24 hours after the murder; limited to that time period
The search warrant for defendant’s CSLI was for 4 days before a murder and 2 weeks after. He pleads overbreadth. The warrant is particular as to the subject matter, just the time is excessive. Thus, it does not permit a … Continue reading
OH2: Def was shot and the SW for his house where it happened included searching for drugs without PC; still it was in good faith
In an investigation of defendant’s shooting, officers obtained a search warrant for his premises and the warrant included search for drugs. The warrant was overbroad, but the court declines to apply the exclusionary rule finding it was in good faith. … Continue reading
NY2: Pawnbrokers are “pervasively regulated” under 4A
Pawnbrokers are “pervasively regulated” for consumer protection. City of Los Angeles v. Patel is way different because that industry was not so regulated. Collateral Loanbrokers Assn. of N.Y., Inc. v City of New York, 2019 NY Slip Op 09354, 2019 … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Even if SW was not particular enough, it wasn’t so defective or obvious that the GFE should not apply
Even if the search warrant for defendant’s cell phone was overbroad, which isn’t even decided, it was not so overbroad that the good faith exception to the exclusionary should be applied. United States v. Obie, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 216350 … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Broad SW in tax investigation on one false return justified breadth of SW because it was likely other taxes were not paid, too
The nature of the probable cause and when it was found was justification for broad search warrant for records in a tax investigation. “But, unlike in Rickert, the investigation in this case began with broader data collected by the IRS … Continue reading