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- D.Me.: Looking around house when allegedly “freezing” it was an illegal search
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com / The Book
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-24,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 425,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 45,000 posts since 2003 (26,730+ on WordPress as of 12/31/23) -
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Fourth Amendment cases,
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (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) -
“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 -
"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] -
“You know, most men would get discouraged by now. Fortunately for you, I am not most men!”
---Pepé Le Pew "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)
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Category Archives: Forfeiture
Reason: The FBI Hopes These Cute Puppies Will Distract You From Unconstitutional Civil Asset Forfeitures
Reason: The FBI Hopes These Cute Puppies Will Distract You From Unconstitutional Civil Asset Forfeitures by Scott Shackford: Surrender the Fifth Amendment or the dog dies.
TechDirt: Data From Court Documents Shows Texas Law Enforcement Playing Small-Ball Forfeiture, Not Doing Much To Stop Drug Trafficking
TechDirt: Data From Court Documents Shows Texas Law Enforcement Playing Small-Ball Forfeiture, Not Doing Much To Stop Drug Trafficking by Tim Cushing: Small seizures work out best for law enforcement. The cost of fighting the forfeiture usually outpaces the value … Continue reading
CA9: Overbreadth as to one category in SW moot by fact documents were included in another
In a complex tax avoidance scheme, the IRS obtained search warrant was overbroad as to one category of things to be seized in ¶ u but it was mooted by the fact that items arguably seized under that category were … Continue reading
M.D.Ala.: “Motions to suppress evidence are appropriate in civil forfeiture proceedings …”
“Motions to suppress evidence are appropriate in civil forfeiture proceedings because the seizure and subsequent civil forfeiture of assets implicates the Fourth Amendment. Plymouth Sedan v. Pennsylvania, 380 U.S. 693, 702 (1965) (holding that the Fourth Amendment is applicable to … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: Confronting possible trespassers in a house and asking for IDs was reasonable
The officer here confronted trespassers which he suspected might be squatters and drug users. “The Court finds that the officer’s questions and actions were reasonably related to learning the identities of the people on the property, learning whether they were … Continue reading
SCOTUS: The excessive fines clause of the 8A applies to the states via 14A as to in rem forfeitures
Timbs v. Indiana, 2019 U.S. LEXIS 1350 (Feb. 20, 2019). Syllabus:
Reason.com: How the Feds Are Using Civil Asset Forfeiture to Threaten Free Speech
Reason.com: How the Feds Are Using Civil Asset Forfeiture to Threaten Free Speech by Elizabeth Nolan Brown: Sex, publishing, and quasi-legal theft collide in the Backpage prosecution. Prosecutors are ignoring the Constitution and legal precedent in their zeal to punish … Continue reading
OH9: Inadequate findings on officer safety patdown requires remand
The trial court’s findings of an alleged officer safety justification for his patdown are inadequate for the court of appeals to decide whether the state justified the patdown. Remanded for more findings. State v. Murphy, 2019-Ohio-515, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS … Continue reading
IN: Seizure of only cash under SW for drugs and cash from drug sales was unreasonable and without PC
When police had a search warrant for a package that included cash for drug purposes in the particular description, the seizure of only cash wasn’t justified. Nothing showed that the money was related to crime. Hodges v. State, 2018 Ind. … Continue reading
OH6: Leaving house to do a drug deal and going back home right after is inference drugs at home
The affiant’s allegation that defendant left his house to conduct drug deals then returned there right afterward creates a reasonable inference that drugs are kept in the house. Thus, there was probable cause for the search warrant. State v. Pettaway, … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Court can’t return property under Rule 41(g) after civil forfeiture starts
Once a civil forfeiture proceeding has started, the court loses jurisdiction to consider a Rule 41(g) motion for return of property. United States v. Paulino, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176893 (S.D. N.Y. Oct. 16, 2018). The seizure of defendant’s cell … Continue reading
OH2: Motion for return of property after a forfeiture order is final is moot
A motion for return of property after a forfeiture order is final is moot. State v. Housley, 2018-Ohio-4140, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 4467 (2d Dist. Oct. 12, 2018). There was no Franks violation. Officers got permission from a child to … Continue reading
OR: Failure to appeal order denying return of property precludes later relief
Defendant’s denial of his motion for return of property was a final appealable order, and his failure to appeal foreclosed later recovery. State v. Fenton, 294 Ore. App. 48, 2018 Ore. App. LEXIS 1091 (Sep. 13, 2018). Defense counsel made … Continue reading
OH11: DAs get no immunity for forfeiture of a firearm others had an interest in
Prosecutors had no absolute immunity for disposing of a firearm after defendant’s conviction when others had a legal interest in the firearm because it was an administrative function. Ownership and possession are different concepts, and forfeiture of others’ interests were … Continue reading
N.D.Ill. Bankr.: A bankruptcy filed after seizure can defeat an attempted forfeiture
The City of Chicago seized a car for a forfeiture, and the owner filed bankruptcy. The city refused to give the car up to the bankruptcy court, and the court holds the city violated the bankruptcy stay. In re Shannon, … Continue reading
WaPo: Police seized $10,000 of a couple’s cash. They couldn’t get it back — until they went public.
WaPo: Police seized $10,000 of a couple’s cash. They couldn’t get it back — until they went public. by Deanna Paul. They won it gambling in a casino. The police didn’t bother to check. Or care.
CA11: Apparent consent for 5:30 am entry defeats “egregious” 4A violation for exclusion in immigration removal
Petitioner’s declaration did not make a prima facie case of an egregious violation of the Fourth Amendment to preclude evidence in his removal proceeding. The entry was at 5:30 am, but there was also evidence of consent to the entry. … Continue reading
WaPo: She saved thousands to open a medical clinic in Nigeria. U.S. Customs took all of it at the airport.
WaPo: She saved thousands to open a medical clinic in Nigeria. U.S. Customs took all of it at the airport. by Meagan Flynn: The questioning threw her off guard. She explained she had legally earned the money and she was … Continue reading
Montgomery Advertiser: Opinion: Policing for profit prevails at Alabama Legislature
Montgomery Advertiser: Opinion: Policing for profit prevails at Alabama Legislature by Leah Nelson and Shay Farley, Alabama Voices: