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- N.D.Ala.: All parts of a SW are read in context, and that narrows it so it’s not overbroad
- WA: No immediate bail for DV arrest violates neither 4A nor due process
- S.D.N.Y.: Overseas seizure of Russian oligarch’s megayacht not governed by 4A
- CA7: No IAC in failure to more aggressively pursue Franks challenge
- CA9: Compelled use of fingerprint to open a cell phone didn’t violate 5A
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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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--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: Subpoenas / Nat’l Security Letters
E.D.Tenn.: Finding ammo not matching seized firearm justifies further search
Officers finding ammunition from a different caliber gun than the one found justifies a further search. United States v. Berry, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98684 (E.D.Tenn. May 3, 2022), adopted, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98639 (E.D.Tenn. June 2, 2022). Plaintiff’s … Continue reading
GA: Court ordered 4A waiver for probation doesn’t make the sentence void
Trial court’s imposition of a Fourth Amendment waiver did not make the sentence void. Gainey v. State, 2022 Ga. App. LEXIS 261 (June 1, 2022). The defense, of course, cannot get a search warrant for the contents of a cell … Continue reading
techdirt: Ninth Circuit Takes Another Look At NSLs, Says Indefinite Gag Orders Still Aren’t Constitutional Problem
techdirt: Ninth Circuit Takes Another Look At NSLs, Says Indefinite Gag Orders Still Aren’t Constitutional Problem by Tim Cushing:
N.D.N.Y.: Younger doctrine bars suit against state AG investigation’s subpoena
Plaintiffs’ claims that various constitutional rights were infringed by the state Attorney General’s alleged politically motivated investigation are barred by the Younger doctrine. As to the Fourth Amendment claim, it was directed at subpoenas. Trump v. James, 2022 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
MI directs its CoA to consider application of exclusionary rule in zoning case
The Michigan Supreme Court remanded Long Lake Twp. v. Maxon, 2021 Mich. App. LEXIS 1819 (Mar. 18, 2021) (posted here) to determine below whether the exclusionary rule should apply in a zoning case. Long Lake Twp. v. Maxon, 2022 Mich. … Continue reading
IA: Automobile exception search of glove compartment here was unreasonable
Search of the glove compartment is reasonable to look for evidence of ownership of a car already subject to search, but that wasn’t an issue here because there was no reason to. State v. Marcott, 2022 Iowa App. LEXIS 385 … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: Eastman’s claim 1/6 House Committee’s subpoena is without authority or overbroad is denied
John Eastman’s claims against the Jan. 6 House Committee subpoena for records fail on his claim for injunctive relief. (Attorney-client privilege will be taken up later.) Eastman v. Thompson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25546 (C.D.Cal. Jan. 25, 2022). On the … Continue reading
CA1: Third-party doctrine applies to prescription drug monitoring program
This is an action to enforce a DEA administrative subpoena to the New Hampshire Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for specific prescriptions. The court declines to equate prescription records with other medical records because the pharmacy industry is closely regulated. It … Continue reading
C.D.Cal.: Admin SDT is not a 4A seizure
The Secretary of Labor’s administrative subpoena duces tecum here did not violate the Fourth Amendment. “A warrant is required only when government officials enter onto a private party’s premises without consent and forcibly take possession of documents.” Walsh v. Int’l … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Def’s SDT to Instagram for material potentially related to suppression motion granted
Defendant sought a subpoena from Instagram to see who was involved in reporting CyberTips to NCMEC. The question of admissibility relates to a potential suppression motion, not trial. Subpoena granted. United States v. Weber, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 229264 (D.Mont. … Continue reading
TX3: REP in car parked on curtilage; plain view suppressed
The trial court’s suppression order is affirmed. Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his curtilage and his car parked there. The plain view inside his car and then the search was unreasonable. State v. Serna, 2021 Tex. App. … Continue reading
TN: Civil investigative demand in deceptive trade practices case was reasonable
The Attorney General’s request for information (a subpoena) in a deceptive trade practices case was reasonable in scope and reasonably related to the AG’s authority under the statute. In re Investigation of Wall & Assocs., 2021 Tenn. App. LEXIS 449 … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Modified civil investigative demand wasn’t shown to be unreasonable
The petitioner doesn’t show that the civil investigative demand in a fraud case was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment or that it could not reach accommodation with the government. In re Civil Investigative Demand No. 21mc24 WJ/SCY, 2021 U.S. Dist. … Continue reading
LA4: SDT for tort ptf’s cell phone records was unreasonable and disproportionate
A subpoena duces tecum in a civil case for a plaintiff’s cell phone records was quashed and affirmed on appeal. Because of the substantial reasonable expectation of privacy in phone records, this was not proportionate to the case or the … Continue reading
WaPo: When the FBI seizes your messages from Big Tech, you may not know it for years
WaPo: When the FBI seizes your messages from Big Tech, you may not know it for years by Jay Greene & Drew Harwell (“Microsoft, Google, Facebook and other tech firms are pressing lawmakers to stop prosecutors from secretly snooping on … Continue reading
E.D.Cal.: DEA admin subpoena for prescription records enforced despite privacy interest
The DEA’s administrative subpoena for prescription records is enforced. While circuit law shows some privacy interest of persons named in the records, the DEA’s ability to get it overcomes that. United States v. Saxton, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150296 (E.D.Cal. … Continue reading
S.D.N.Y.: Late return of SW materials in discovery wasn’t at all prejudicial
The return of the search warrant materials was late, but defendant shows no prejudice, and he had them in discovery. United States v. Lesane, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137777 (S.D.N.Y. July 23, 2021). Defendant’s discovery claim that the government must … Continue reading
WaPo: The secret gag orders must stop
WaPo: The secret gag orders must stop by Brad Smith, President of Microsoft (“The past seven days marked another bad week for the collision between technology and democracy. We live in an era when private emails and text messages typically … Continue reading
DE: Agency investigative SDT akin to GJ’s
An agency investigative subpoena duces tecum is akin to a grand jury’s, following Morton Salt and Powell. State Dept. of Finance v. AT&T Inc., 2021 Del. LEXIS 178 (June 1, 2021):
CA6: Disclosure of medical records to LEO by subpoena duces tecum doesn’t violate 4A
“[T]he disclosure of the plaintiffs’ medical records to law enforcement officers for the purpose of investigating Dr. Pompy’s allegedly illegal activities did not violate their Fourth Amendment rights or their constitutional right to privacy.” Micks-Harm v. Nichols, 2021 U.S. App. … Continue reading