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Recent Posts
- CA8: Admission of anonymous tip that led to stop violated Confrontation Clause
- CO: Anonymous report of student smoking pot in school justified backpack search
- CA6: CI’s lie to get into def’s house to video him making a drug deal with the CI didn’t violate 4A
- TN: Def lived in a van left wide open in a public area, but it didn’t belong to him, so no REP as to interior
- VI: Despite ubiquity of cell phones, nexus has to be shown to alleged crime
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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)
--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: Administrative search
MA: Officer’s observation of obvious drug transaction by car pulling up on street was PC
The experienced police officer’s observation of defendant reaching into a car with Maine LPN was consistent with “car meets” for drug sales, and that was probable cause. Commonwealth v. Sanders, 2016 Mass. App. LEXIS 164 (Nov. 15, 2016). Plaintiff complained … Continue reading
VA ABC agent correctly fired for violating pending licensee’s rights during administrative search
Appellant was an ABC officer terminated for violating the Fourth Amendment rights of a pending licensee by searching in excess of their government’s ability to administratively search or the pending licensee’s consent. The termination decision was affirmed. He argued the … Continue reading
FL2: Fireman’s plain view of contraband was valid, but then there was a search that wasn’t
Contraband in plain view seen by firemen in defendant’s garage was lawfully seized. Guns and cash weren’t in plain view, and they were seen after a re-sweep of the house with the police, so they weren’t lawfully seized. Young v. … Continue reading
Crain’s Chicago Business: Lawsuit blasts new Airbnb regulations
Crain’s Chicago Business: Lawsuit blasts new Airbnb regulations by Alby Gallun:
CA10: Bee inspector gets QI for search of apiary apparently in open field and because of unsettled questions of law
Utah bee inspector gets qualified immunity for the administrative inspection of plaintiff’s apiary because of unsettled questions, the fact the apiary was in open fields, and the lack of clearly established law. Cox v. Cache County, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
OH8: State admin subpoena might be burdensome and time consuming but it’s not unreasonable
“While GMS might find some of the Commission’s investigative techniques time consuming and burdensome, GMS is unable to show that the Commission’s investigations violated the Fourth Amendment or otherwise fell outside the scope of what is permitted under statute.” GMS … Continue reading
CA7: Over-the-road trucks are a “heavily regulated industry” and electronic logging of driver time and location satisfies 4A
The U.S. DoT’s electronic logging device (ELD) that logs driver time is within the agency’s regulatory power. Moreover, the motor carrier business is heavily regulated to required logging of trucks and drivers to fight driver fatigue and hours in service. … Continue reading
N.D.Ind.: E.Chi. Housing Auth. administrative searches with police enjoined
The City of East Chicago Housing Authority is enjoined from how it conducts administrative inspections of its apartments and uses drug dogs at the doors of apartments. Gutierrez v. City of East Chicago, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138374 (N.D.Ind. Sept. … Continue reading
CT: City housing admin SW was properly issued; no state constitutional right to adversary proceeding first
City inspectors suspected defendant’s premises to have an illegal third apartment because there were three mailboxes and entrances and other suspicions. He refused an inspection by city officials, so they applied for an administrative search warrant that showed probable cause … Continue reading
CNS News: Liberal AG’s Climate Change Probes Abuse Fourth Amendment to Upend First Amendment
CNS News: Liberal AG’s Climate Change Probes Abuse Fourth Amendment to Upend First Amendment by Mark Fitzgibbons. A subpoena for 40 years of records from Exxon about the environment is somehow equated with the Second Amendment (¶ 3, 1st sent.). … Continue reading
MI: No RS required for administrative SW for rental unit inspections once every 3 years
“Appellant city challenges the district court’s denial of its application for an administrative search warrant to conduct a rental-housing inspection [where inspections are only done every three years], arguing that the district court erred in determining that individualized suspicion of … Continue reading
ME: State DEP doesn’t need a warrant to enter lands to look for noxious odors
The state Department of Environmental Protection gets an order permitting it to enter defendant’s lands at “reasonable hours” to inspect for the source of noxious odors. There is no warrant requirement for lands as opposed to buildings. State v. Dubois … Continue reading
CA3: Porn industry is not a “closely regulated industry” for purposes of warrantless record keeping inspections
The pornography industry is not a “closely regulated industry” for purposes of warrantless record keeping inspections. There is neither a longstanding history of regulation nor pervasive regulation. Free Speech Coalition v. Attorney General of the United States, 2016 U.S. App. … Continue reading
CA11: Ptf consented to the broader OSHA inspection
The plaintiff was found to have consented to the broad OSHA inspection, and there obviously was no requirement of a Miranda warning before the inspection. There is no small business exception to the OSHA inspection requirements. Peacock Timber Co. v. … Continue reading
E.D.Ky.: EEOC warrantless entry did not require administrative subpoena if reasonableness safeguards provided for
The EEOC sought to enter defendant’s property without an administrative warrant to investigate a hiring discrimination claim. An administrative warrant is not required if there are built-in safeguards for the employer to protect against arbitrariness and provide reasonableness. EEOC v. … Continue reading
CA11: Nothing from warrantless cell phone search made it into SW for phones; independent source rule applies
The government did a cursory warrantless search of two defendants’ cell phones, concerned about a remote wipe, prior to obtaining a search warrant for those phones and others. The independent source rule was satisfied for the searches because there was … Continue reading
DC Velocity: Electronic logging devices do not improve safety; mandate is unconstitutional, trucking group says
DC Velocity: Electronic logging devices do not improve safety; mandate is unconstitutional, trucking group says: OOIDA files brief asking court to overturn ELD mandate, saying it violates Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.
IL: Lost page of affidavit for SW can be proved without resort to formality of Court Records Restoration Act
When page two of the original complaint for search warrant disappeared, the state was not required to comply with the Court Records Restoration Act to prove up the search warrant at the suppression hearing. A normally authenticated copy would do. … Continue reading
D.Utah: EPA administrative SW did not authorize search of def’s residence on the business property
Defendant ran a portable toilet business, and his home was on the property. The EPA suspected him of dumping into a river, and they secured a warrant for the business. They also searched his bedroom, and the EPA had no … Continue reading
Natl. Home School Legal Defense Assn.: Protect Your Right to Keep Kids Home during Portfolio Review
Natl. Home School Legal Defense Assn.: Protect Your Right to Keep Kids Home during Portfolio Review (MD), by Scott Woodruff: What should you do if a local portfolio reviewer asks you to bring your child with you to an annual … Continue reading