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- E.D.Ky.: Being a lookout vehicle at a crime is RS
- E.D.Mich.: Missing 14 yo cell phone pinging at def’s house was exigency for entry to find her
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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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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: Forfeiture
IA: Stop was admittedly pretextual, but objective facts supported it
Defendant was tried and acquitted of possession and was involved in a forfeiture action. Because he was acquitted the state can’t rely on losing the motion to suppress in the trial court because there was no appeal. The stop was … Continue reading
Maryland Reporter: Restrictions proposed on police seizure of property in drug trade
Maryland Reporter: Restrictions proposed on police seizure of property in drug trade by Rebecca Lesner: The chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee is sponsoring a bill that will prevent police officers from confiscating property without having proof that the … Continue reading
WaPo: House panelists say changes are needed to end civil forfeiture abuses
WaPo: House panelists say changes are needed to end civil forfeiture abuses by Robert O’Harrow Jr.: Members of a House Judiciary subcommittee agreed Wednesday that legislative changes are needed to prevent local and state police from making cash and property … Continue reading
WaPo: How much civil asset forfeiture will Holder’s new policy actually prevent?
WaPo: How much civil asset forfeiture will Holder’s new policy actually prevent? by Radley Balko: “It will probably affect no more than 6 percent of revenue from such cases.”
NY Times: $447,000 Seized by Government Will Be Returned to Business
NY Times: $447,000 Seized by Government Will Be Returned to Business by Shiela Dewan: Loretta E. Lynch, the United States attorney for New York’s Eastern District and President Obama’s nominee for attorney general, signed off on Tuesday to a settlement … Continue reading
WaPo: The ‘Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: Assessing Holder’s new policy curtailing asset forfeiture
WaPo: The ‘Volokh Conspiracy’ Blog: Assessing Holder’s new policy curtailing asset forfeiture: While there is no doubt that the new policy is a step in the right direction, Radley Balko has an insightful post raising questions about exactly how far … Continue reading
WaPo: Radley Balko’s ‘The Watch’ Blog: Breaking down Holder’s move to limit civil asset forfeiture abuse
WaPo: Radley Balko’s ‘The Watch’ Blog: Breaking down Holder’s move to limit civil asset forfeiture abuse: The outgoing AG strikes a blow in favor of property rights, federalism.
WaPo: Holder limits seized-asset sharing process that split billions with local, state police
WaPo: Holder limits seized-asset sharing process that split billions with local, state police by Robert O’Harrow Jr., Sari Horwitz and Steven Rich: Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Friday barred local and state police from using federal law to … Continue reading
WaPo: Lawmakers urge end to program sharing forfeited assets with state and local police
WaPo: Lawmakers urge end to program sharing forfeited assets with state and local police by Robert O’Harrow Jr.: Leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees on Friday called on the Justice Department to end the sharing of civil seizure … Continue reading
NJLJ: Government Seizures of Cars, Cash Prompt Calls for Reform
NJLJ: Government Seizures of Cars, Cash Prompt Calls for Reform by Charles Toutant: Critics of New Jersey’s civil forfeiture law are calling for reform, contending that government seizures of cash, cars and other property lack due process protections and sometimes … Continue reading
NLJ: Asset Seizures Gone Wrong
NLJ: Asset Seizures Gone Wrong by Jenna Greene: Two judges rebuked the FTC, which defends its practices….In 2014, the FTC won asset freezes coupled with temporary restraining orders in 29 cases naming 145 companies and 82 individuals, a 45 percent … Continue reading
Washington Times: D.C. rethinks rules that let police seize, keep suspects’ cash, property
Washington Times: D.C. rethinks rules that let police seize, keep suspects’ cash, property by Andrea Noble: Civil asset forfeiture policies facing increasing scrutiny nationwide D.C. lawmakers are pushing forward with legislation to reform policies allowing police to seize property from … Continue reading
WaPo: D.C. police plan for future seizure proceeds years in advance in city budget documents
WaPo: D.C. police plan for future seizure proceeds years in advance in city budget documents by Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Steven Rich: This is the sixth installment in the “Stop and Seize” investigative series. D.C. police have made plans for … Continue reading
WaPo: Policing for profit in Tennessee
WaPo: Policing for profit in Tennessee by Radley Balko: Phil Williams of Nashville’s NewsChannel 5, WTVF-TV, one of the best TV investigative journalists in the country, has been doing particularly stellar work over the last several years on civil asset … Continue reading
WaPo: Unusual lawsuit challenges police seizure tactics
WaPo: Unusual lawsuit challenges police seizure tactics by Robert O’Harrow Jr.: The two men in the rented red Nissan Altima were poker players traveling through Iowa on their way to Las Vegas. The police were state troopers on the hunt … Continue reading
NYTimes: Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required
NYTimes: Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required by Shaila Dewan: For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a … Continue reading
Cal.1st: Davis good faith exception applied to a pre-McNeely DUI warrantless blood draw
Davis good faith exception applied to a pre-McNeely DUI warrantless blood draw. People v. Rossetti, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 950 (1st Dist. October 22, 2014). 911 call from a name eyewitness to shots fired did not need corroboration. “In general, … Continue reading
WaPo: Federal judge: Prosecutors’ attempt to secretly seize $13 million was ‘constitutionally abhorrent’
WaPo: Federal judge: Prosecutors’ attempt to secretly seize $13 million was ‘constitutionally abhorrent’ by Radley Balko: For your “I can’t believe this stuff happens in America” files: Calling their conduct “constitutionally abhorrent,” a federal judge recently chided government prosecutors for … Continue reading
WaPo: Asset seizures fuel police spending (4th in a series)
WaPo: Asset seizures fuel police spending by Robert O’Harrow Jr. & Steven Rich: Police agencies have used hundreds of millions of dollars taken from Americans under federal civil forfeiture law in recent years to buy guns, armored cars and electronic … Continue reading