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Recent Posts
- WSJ: ‘We Know You Live Right Here’: No Secrets in America’s New Surveillance Dragnet
- NY Columbia Co.: Alleged excessive nervousness when multiple police cars arrive at a traffic stop doesn’t add to RS
- CA4: Backpack dumped in flight in grandmother’s yard was abandoned
- GA: Virtually all-inclusive list of items to be seized wasn’t overbroad
- CA4: Dist.Ct. erred in applying search incident to arrest to suppress bag when inventory was inevitable
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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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Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
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General (many free):
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Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
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: Surveillance technology
CBS News: What is the future of privacy, surveillance and policing technologies under Trump?
CBS News: What is the future of privacy, surveillance and policing technologies under Trump? by Kathryn Watson:
WaPo: How tech sleuths cracked the mysterious code that turns your printer into a spying tool
WaPo: How tech sleuths cracked the mysterious code that turns your printer into a spying tool by Derek Hawkins:
Michigan Lawyers Weekly: Fitbit data, other digital evidence used by prosecution in murder case
Michigan Lawyers Weekly: Fitbit data, other digital evidence used by prosecution in murder case by Nicole Black: This case is particularly interesting since there was so much digital data used by the prosecution to refute the defendant’s version of the … Continue reading
someecards: Bragging drug dealer gets instant karma when cops raid his house on Facebook Live
someecards: Bragging drug dealer gets instant karma when cops raid his house on Facebook Live by Kelsey Solywoda: A house in Jacksonville, FL was raided by police recently while the guy that lived there was in the middle of a … Continue reading
ABC News: JetBlue testing facial-recognition boarding system in Boston
ABC News: JetBlue testing facial-recognition boarding system in Boston by Jeffrey Cook: JetBlue Airways will soon begin testing technology at Boston’s Logan International Airport that will use facial-recognition in lieu of a boarding pass to clear passengers to board their … Continue reading
Time: Alexa Takes the Stand: Listening Devices Raise Privacy Issues
Time: Alexa Takes the Stand: Listening Devices Raise Privacy Issues by Haley Sweetland Edwards:
ABAJ: Murdered woman’s Fitbit data inconsistent with husband’s story, police say
ABAJ: Murdered woman’s Fitbit data inconsistent with husband’s story, police say by Debra Cassens Weiss:
WaPo: Why it matters that Google Home can now identify you by voice
WaPo: Why it matters that Google Home can now identify you by voice by Hayley Tsukayama: Consumers should also think about how this information could be used outside of the company, Shear said. He pointed to a recent murder case … Continue reading
WaPo: ‘Nobody’s got to use the Internet’: A GOP lawmaker’s response to concerns about Web privacy
WaPo: ‘Nobody’s got to use the Internet’: A GOP lawmaker’s response to concerns about Web privacy by Kristine Phillips:
NYLJ: Court of Appeals’ ‘Facebook’ Decision Leaves Many Questions Open
NYLJ: Court of Appeals’ ‘Facebook’ Decision Leaves Many Questions Open by Maurice J. Recchia: In a newsworthy case in which retail giant Amazon and social media developer Foursquare Labs, among others, submitted friend of the court briefs, the New York … Continue reading
WaPo: No, Republicans didn’t just strip away your Internet privacy rights
WaPo: No, Republicans didn’t just strip away your Internet privacy rights by Ajit Pai & Maureen Ohlhausen: April Fools’ Day came early last week, as professional lobbyists lit a wildfire of misinformation about Congress’s action — signed into law Monday … Continue reading
The Hill: Trump signs internet privacy repeal
The Hill: Trump signs internet privacy repeal by Harper Neidig: The bill uses a little-known tool called the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that allows Congress and the president to overturn recently passed agency regulations. A successful CRA bill also prevents … Continue reading
NYTimes: What the Repeal of Online Privacy Protections Means for You
NYTimes: What the Repeal of Online Privacy Protections Means for You by Brian X. Chen:
NYTimes Sunday Review: Trump Is President. Now Encrypt Your Email.
NYTimes Sunday Review: Trump Is President. Now Encrypt Your Email. by Max Read:
CEI: Six Reasons FCC Rules Aren’t Needed to Protect Privacy
CEI: Six Reasons FCC Rules Aren’t Needed to Protect Privacy by Ryan Radia:
Security Info Watch: Proliferation of smart home tech creates privacy conundrum
Security Info Watch: Proliferation of smart home tech creates privacy conundrum by Adrienne Ehrhardt:
NACDL: New Report Offers Guide for Defense Attorneys to Challenge Secretive Government Hacking
NACDL: New Report Offers Guide for Defense Attorneys to Challenge Secretive Government Hacking: Washington, DC (Mar. 30, 2017) — A report released today sets out key legal arguments and strategies for challenging evidence seized by government-installed computer malware as a … Continue reading
NYTimes: Republicans Attack Internet Privacy
NYTimes: Republicans Attack Internet Privacy (Editorial): Republicans just made clear how little they care about protecting the privacy of Americans by letting companies like Verizon and Comcast sell advertisers the internet browsing histories and other personal data of their customers … Continue reading
WaPo: The Senate just voted to undo landmark rules covering your Internet privacy
WaPo: The Senate just voted to undo landmark rules covering your Internet privacy by Brian Fung:
WaPo: Who’s logging your face?
WaPo: Who’s logging your face? by Alvaro Bedoya: You probably remember the day you got your driver’s license. You went to the department of motor vehicles, took a driving test, stood for a photograph and then got your license. What … Continue reading