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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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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)
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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: Body cameras
WaPo: 80 percent of Chicago PD dash-cam videos are missing audio due to ‘officer error’ or ‘intentional destruction’
WaPo: 80 percent of Chicago PD dash-cam videos are missing audio due to ‘officer error’ or ‘intentional destruction’ by Radley Balko: From DNA Info, here’s the latest piece of evidence that the corruption and abuse in the Chicago Police Department … Continue reading
Philadelphia Inquirer: Editorial: A public right to police video
Philadelphia Inquirer: Editorial: A public right to police video: Body cameras provide a valuable means of getting clear answers to questions about police interactions with suspects. Ultimately, they promise to check bad policing and protect officers who behave appropriately, making … Continue reading
AP: Illinois, Other States Debate Laws for Police Videos
AP: Illinois, Other States Debate Laws for Police Videos by Ivan Moreno, ABC: The yearlong delay before the release of a video showing a white Chicago police officer fatally shooting a black teenager has Illinois lawmakers facing the same question … Continue reading
CityLab: A Las Vegas Case Shows Why Police Body Cameras Are So Important
CityLab: A Las Vegas Case Shows Why Police Body Cameras Are So Important by Brenton Mock: Video footage helped bring federal charges against a former officer who beat up a woman he accused of being a prostitute. ArsTechnica: Body cam … Continue reading
AP: Not all departments sold on police body cameras
AP: Not all departments sold on police body cameras via Philly.com: Some municipalities still remain opposed to adopting police body cameras for its officers despite a continued effort by New Jersey to assist in the cost of the devices. Buffalo … Continue reading
Cato Institute: Blog: What Do Police Think About Body Cameras?
Cato Institute: Blog: What Do Police Think About Body Cameras? by Matthew Feeney: [W]hile it is important to consider how the public views police body cameras, it is also worth noting what police law enforcement leadership thinks about the technology.
Denver Post: Editorial: Why SWAT needs body cams, too
Denver Post: Editorial: Why SWAT needs body cams, too: Video from body-worn cameras can both exonerate and implicate. It will be an important tool to justify police action in the face of unwarranted criticism as well as to hold officers … Continue reading
NYTimes: Police Chiefs Say Scrutiny Over Videos Has Radically Changed Their Work
NYTimes: Police Chiefs Say Scrutiny Over Videos Has Radically Changed Their Work by Timothy Williams: The tenure of the average urban police chief has never been long or been noted for its serenity, but in an age of widely disseminated … Continue reading
NYLJ: Monitor Wants ‘Controlled’ Study of Police Body Cameras
NYLJ: Monitor Wants ‘Controlled’ Study of Police Body Cameras by Mark Hamblett: The court-appointed monitor overseeing the remedial process in New York City’s stop-and-frisk litigation has proposed altering a pilot program that would have police officers wear body cameras.
WaPo: Bulk of D.C. body camera footage will be available to the public
WaPo: Bulk of D.C. body camera footage will be available to the public by Abigail Hauslohner: The D.C. Council ended months of arguments Tuesday and approved a plan that would allow most footage captured by police wearing body cameras to … Continue reading
NY Times: Op-Ed Contributor: The Real Problem With Police Video
NY Times: Op-Ed Contributor: The Real Problem With Police Video by Sarah Lustbader: But while protesters have criticized the delayed response to the shooting, no one seems to be asking a more fundamental question: Why were the police in control … Continue reading
techdirt: DOJ Says Body Camera-Wearing Cops Aren’t Allowed To Partner Up With Federal Agencies
techdirt: DOJ Says Body Camera-Wearing Cops Aren’t Allowed To Partner Up With Federal Agencies by Tim Cushing: As we’ve covered before, the DOJ supports the idea of body cameras for local law enforcement agencies. It has set aside over $20 … Continue reading
The Atlantic: Body Cameras and The Death of a 6-Year-Old Boy
The Atlantic: Body Cameras and The Death of a 6-Year-Old Boy by Marina Koren: Police say footage of an officer-involved shooting contributed to prosecutors’ decision to press charges.
APNewsBreak: US border agency staff rejects body cameras for agents, citing cost, terrain
APNewsBreak: US border agency staff rejects body cameras for agents, citing cost, terrain by Elliot Spagat: Customs and Border Protection staff concluded after an internal review that agents and officers shouldn’t be required to wear body cameras, positioning the nation’s … Continue reading
Microsoft: Body-worn camera policy guide: Key guidance for managing body-worn camera video
Microsoft: Body-worn camera policy guide: Key guidance for managing body-worn camera video: Thinking of adopting body worn cameras? Here’s where to begin. Body worn cameras are the latest in technology enabling better policing. Departments across the United States and the … Continue reading
NPR: Stealth Mode? Built-in Monitor? Not All Body Cameras Are Created Equal
NPR: Stealth Mode? Built-in Monitor? Not All Body Cameras Are Created Equal by Martin Kaste: Amid the recent pressure on police to wear body cameras, one thing is often overlooked: Not all cameras are created equal. In fact, cameras vary … Continue reading
The Hill: Poll: Overwhelming majority want police to wear body cameras
The Hill: Poll: Overwhelming majority want police to wear body cameras by By Lydia Wheeler: The majority of Americans support body cameras for police officers but say there needs to be clear rules on how the cameras and the footage … Continue reading
ABAJ: Constant filming of police officers is ‘impacting their judgment,’ Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says
ABAJ: Constant filming of police officers is ‘impacting their judgment,’ Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says by Stephanie Francis Ward: Chicago police are not acting proactively, because they fear that citizens will film their actions and use it against them, or … Continue reading
HuffPo: Study Shows Less Violence, Fewer Complaints When Cops Wear Body Cameras
HuffPo: Study Shows Less Violence, Fewer Complaints When Cops Wear Body Cameras by Nick Wing, Senior Viral Editor [whatever that is, unless it’s related to being an epidemiologist]: Equipping police with body cameras may be an effective way to improve … Continue reading