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- WaPo: Subpoena bill would curtail secretive tool used to target government critics
- CA2: Taking 3-day-old son from mother affected father’s 4A & 14A rights too
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- E.D.Cal.: Just because one officer smelled tobacco in def’s pipe didn’t mean others couldn’t sniff, too
- W.D.N.Y.: Emergency disclosure requests in Buffalo Tops grocery shooting were valid
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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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General (many free):
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Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
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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)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
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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: Third Party Doctrine
S.D.Cal.: Refusal to submit to warrant to show face to open cell phone was admissible at trial
Defendant’s refusal to comply with a search warrant for biometric opening of his cell phone (here, a face scan) was admissible at trial to show consciousness of guilt. “Given that ‘[i]t is today universally conceded that the fact of an … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: A filter team not required to examine seized photographs
A filter team wasn’t required to examine seized photographs. Overseizure doesn’t make a search unreasonable unless it was flagrant, and this wasn’t. United States v. Alford, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87350 (N.D. Ga. Apr. 20, 2026). “Even if the pre-warrant … Continue reading
CA10: Disagreement over spelling of street name didn’t make warrant fail particularity; GFE at least would apply
“The warrant authorized a search of 10 McGinnis Street, Eufaula, OK 74432. The correct address, Mr. Davis said, was 10 Meginnis Street, Eufaula, OK 74432. And beyond the address, the warrant contained no description of the house.” The suppression hearing … Continue reading
CA9: 48-hour delay in getting a warrant for a mailed package wasn’t unreasonable
A 48 hour delay in getting a warrant for a mailed package wasn’t unreasonable. United States v. Garza, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 8714 (9th Cir. Mar. 25, 2026). Petitioner’s bank records were obtained by search warrant. They are third party … Continue reading
TN: A social guest with standing doesn’t have it in open fields
As a social guest occasionally spending the night, defendant had standing and a reasonable expectation of privacy in the house and curtilage when he was there. Not, however, in the property’s open fields. State v. Mabe, 2026 Tenn. Crim. App. … Continue reading
CNS: Iowa accuses General Motors of not disclosing OnStar data sharing
CNS: Iowa accuses General Motors of not disclosing OnStar data sharing by Rox Laird (“General Motors failed to disclose to car buyers that driving data collected by the automaker’s OnStar program installed in its vehicles is sold to auto insurance … Continue reading
OH4: Inventory found pretextual
The inventory here was found pretextual by the way the officer conducted it; e.g., not using gloves until something was found [which says nothing to me]. State v. Clark, 2026-Ohio-447, 2026 Ohio App. LEXIS 510 (4th Dist. Feb. 5, 2026). … Continue reading
ID: There is no legal privilege in pharmacy records
There is no legal privilege in pharmacy records. Pharmacists are independent actors in the medical field. The trial court erred in granting a motion in limine. Just because a psychotherapist prescribed a drug isn’t privileged. State v. Borek, 2026 Ida. … Continue reading
CA11: Corporate Transparency Act reporting requirements don’t violate 4A
The reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act don’t violate the Fourth Amendment. Nat’l Small Bus. United v. United States Dep’t of the Treasury, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 32844 (11th Cir. Dec. 16, 2025):
M.D.Fla.: Suspicious activity reports (SARs) don’t violate the 4A under the third party doctrine
Suspicious activity reports (SARs) don’t violate the Fourth Amendment under the third party doctrine. Fid. Nat’l Fin., Inc. v. Bessent, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 255738 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 9, 2025):
Reason: Treasury Department Surveillance at the Southern Border Faces Fourth Amendment Challenges
Reason: Treasury Department Surveillance at the Southern Border Faces Fourth Amendment Challenges by Toslin Akintola (“In March, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a geographic targeting order (GTO) that quietly turned MSBs along the U.S.-Mexico border into … Continue reading
IN: No REP in bank records in securities investigation
The state securities department subpoenaed petitioner’s bank records. He has no privacy interest in them under the Fourth or Fifth Amendment. Peabody v. State Office of the Sec’y of State Sec. Div., 2025 Ind. App. LEXIS 328 (Oct. 3, 2025). … Continue reading
Latin Times: Arrest of Mexican Man in Hawaii Shows ICE is Using Remittance Data To Deport Migrants
Latin Times: Arrest of Mexican Man in Hawaii Shows ICE is Using Remittance Data To Deport Migrants by Pedro Camacho (“Critics argue that bulk collection of financial data without a warrant may violate the Fourth Amendment.”) But the third party … Continue reading
Reclaim The Net: How Digital Convenience Becomes a Government Backdoor
Reclaim The Net: How Digital Convenience Becomes a Government Backdoor by Christina Maas (“The Supreme Court’s silence keeps 20th-century privacy rules firmly in place while 21st-century surveillance marches on.”). Well, to be frank, the third-party doctrine isn’t going anywhere as … Continue reading
S.D.Cal.: FinCEN’s SWB GTO for financial reporting enjoined for APA reasons; 4A not reached yet
FinCEN’s Southwest Border Geographic Targeting Order (SWB GTO) for enhanced reporting requirements in certain zip codes appears to have been adopted without proper authority under the Administrative Procedure Act. The Fourth Amendment claim is deferred until later as unnecessary at … Continue reading
PA: No REP in data on use of EBT card
Appellant’s argument that the search incident failed because of a lack of an arrest warrant wasn’t presented below so it’s waived. He had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the data on his EBT card that Wawa wouldn’t turn over … Continue reading
HPCWire: Do You Own Your Cloud Data? Third-Party Doctrine Says No
HPCWire: Do You Own Your Cloud Data? Third-Party Doctrine Says No by Alex Woodie (“Your data is yours, right? It seems like a simple question, but thanks to a little-known loophole in federal law, US regulators can access your private … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: Carpenter does not protect ISP information
Carpenter creates no protection for ISP subscriber information. No Due Process rights were violated though a § 1509 summons. United States v. Meyrand, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84060 (E.D. Mo. May 2, 2025).* This court declined to abandon the automobile … Continue reading
FDNV: Primer on Persistent Surveillance
Federal Defender of Nevada: Primer on Persistent Surveillance (Mar. 28, 2025):