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- D.D.C.: Alleged illegal arrest doesn’t void DNA SW
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- CO: Not 4A or state constitutional violation for govt to access def’s computer via peer-to-peer sharing with BitTorrent software
- WSJ: ‘We Know You Live Right Here’: No Secrets in America’s New Surveillance Dragnet
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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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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)
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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: Surveillance technology
TechChruch: Should Tech Companies Be Subject To The Fourth Amendment?
If the government compels production without process or a warrant, should the Fourth Amendment apply? What about the third-party doctrine? TechChruh: Should Tech Companies Be Subject To The Fourth Amendment? by Jeff Kosseff: In the wake of the San Bernardino … Continue reading
Bloomberg Business: Surveillance Society Reshapes U.S. Justice as Profits Soar
Bloomberg Business: Surveillance Society Reshapes U.S. Justice as Profits Soar by Tim Jones and Elizabeth Campbell: Images of violence are reshaping perceptions of justice — and propelling an industry.
Law.com/Daily Business Review: Is Privacy a Thing of the Past?
Law.com/Daily Business Review: Is Privacy a Thing of the Past? by Mark A. Romance: Attorney Mark A. Romance writes about an Eleventh Circuit ruling that if you use a free mobile application that does not require you to register, your … Continue reading
NY Times: California: Trial Run Starts for Biometric Scans at Border
NY Times: California: Trial Run Starts for Biometric Scans at Border (AP): The federal government on Thursday began collecting facial and eye scans of foreigners entering at a busy border crossing with Mexico, a first step in an ambitious effort … Continue reading
The Hill: White House will soon refine its encryption stance
The Hill: White House will soon refine its encryption stance by Gary Bennett: The Obama administration will soon refine its stance on encryption, the White House confirmed on Friday.
AutoBlog: Car turns in its own driver for hit-and-run
AutoBlog: Car turns in its own driver for hit-and-run by Erin Marquis: A woman in Florida may have escaped prosecution for the accidents she caused last week if only her Ford hadn’t called the cops on her. See related story … Continue reading
New use for USPS mail covers: sharing it with you
I’ve already mentioned the fact the USPS has stored images of all our first class mail (here, here, here). Now this: Fortune: The U.S. Postal Service Will Start Emailing You Your Mail Each Morning by Michal Addady:
Robson Forensic: Vehicle Infotainment, Telematics & GPS Data in Forensic Investigations
Thinking of buying a “smart car”? Chevrolet advertises “wired” cars. So, your car can rat you out*: Robson Forensic: Vehicle Infotainment, Telematics & GPS Data in Forensic Investigations Many of the new vehicles on the market today come equipped with … Continue reading
USA Today: Police used apparently illegal wiretaps to make hundreds of arrests
USA Today: Police used apparently illegal wiretaps to make hundreds of arrests by Brad Heath and Brett Kelman: RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Prosecutors in the Los Angeles suburb responsible for a huge share of the nation’s wiretaps almost certainly violated federal … Continue reading
Techdirt: Manhattan DA’s Office Serves Up Craptastic White Paper Asking For A Ban On Encryption
Techdirt: Manhattan DA’s Office Serves Up Craptastic White Paper Asking For A Ban On Encryption by Tim Cushing:
USA Today: Justice officials fear nation’s biggest wiretap operation may not be legal
USA Today: Justice officials fear nation’s biggest wiretap operation may not be legal by Brad Heath and Brett Kelman: Federal drug agents have built a massive wiretapping operation in the Los Angeles suburbs, secretly intercepting tens of thousands of Americans’ … Continue reading
mondaq.com: United States: California Gives The Fourth Amendment A 21st Century Makeover
mondaq.com: United States: California Gives The Fourth Amendment A 21st Century Makeover by Adam Waks: The average American today generates more media than they did at any other point in history, and the ease with which our communications, photos, and … Continue reading
Govt Technology: Does the Fourth Amendment Trump Your Locked Smartphone?
Govt Technology: Does the Fourth Amendment Trump Your Locked Smartphone? by Daniel Rothberg: Because of recent updates to the encryption on Google and Apple software, newly updated Androids and iPhones no longer can be unlocked — even if law enforcement … Continue reading
WaPo: FBI spy planes used thermal imaging tech in flights over Baltimore after Freddie Gray unrest
WaPo: FBI spy planes used thermal imaging tech in flights over Baltimore after Freddie Gray unrest by Andrea Peterson: In days after Baltimore burned with unrest over Freddie Gray’s death in police custody, two FBI surveillance planes circled low above … Continue reading
Atlantic: The NYPD Is Using Mobile X-Ray Vans to Spy on Unknown Targets
Atlantic: The NYPD Is Using Mobile X-Ray Vans to Spy on Unknown Targets by Conor Friedersdorf: New York City won’t reveal how often cops bombard places, vehicles, or people with radiation—or if there are health risks for residents. Dystopian truth … Continue reading
NYTimes: Obama Won’t Seek Access to Encrypted User Data
NYTimes: Obama Won’t Seek Access to Encrypted User Data by Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger: The Obama administration has backed down in its bitter dispute with Silicon Valley over the encryption of data on iPhones and other digital devices, … Continue reading
AP (via WTOP): Private database lets police skirt license plate data limits
AP (via WTOP): Private database lets police skirt license plate data limits by Tami Abdollah: For years, police nationwide have used patrol car-mounted scanners to automatically photograph and log the whereabouts of peoples’ cars, uploading the images into databases they’ve … Continue reading
The Hill: Privacy hawks see momentum in encryption fight
The Hill: Privacy hawks see momentum in encryption fight by Cory Bennett: Digital rights advocates are looking to capitalize on positive signals from administration.
WaPo: Obama administration explored ways to bypass smartphone encryption
WaPo: Obama administration explored ways to bypass smartphone by Andrea Peterson and Ellen Nakashima: An Obama administration working group has explored four possible approaches tech companies might use that would allow law enforcement to unlock encrypted communications — access that … Continue reading
Fusion: Tech companies may be our best hope for resisting government surveillance
Fusion: Tech companies may be our best hope for resisting government surveillance by Ryan Calo: