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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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Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and links -
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
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Section 1983 Blog -
"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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Monthly Archives: July 2022
M.D.Ala.: Court decides geofence warrant on GFE without getting to 4A merits
Defendant was a suspect in a series of 35 carjackings where the car was shortly thereafter used in an armed robbery. A geofence warrant was used to track defendant at the scenes of the robberies. After discussing the case law … Continue reading
CA5: An intimidating police presence is not a seizure
An intimidating police presence is not a seizure. Tyson v. Cty. of Sabine, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 20902 (5th Cir. July 28, 2022). Defense counsel can’t be ineffective for not taking depositions in his criminal case to develop his search … Continue reading
N.D.Ohio: Small closed container in a gun case was properly searched incident to arrest
Officers entered the home on an arrest warrant and consent. Inside, they saw a gun case. A search of a small closed container in the gun case was reasonable incident to arrest. If it was in a dresser drawer or … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: A SW for those suspected of sending in drug-laced fake legal papers
For defense lawyers wondering about the increase in searches of legal mail, this case involved a search warrant of the house of someone suspected to sending in drug laced fake legal papers into federal prisons. Barker v. United States, 2022 … Continue reading
D.N.J.: Why a suppression hearing is sometimes needed
The hearing here got behind the boilerplate of the police reports and results in the stop being without reasonable suspicion, and it is suppressed. United States v. Wright, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133312 (D.N.J. July 27, 2022):
D.Mass.: Being leader of a DTO can show nexus
Mere membership in a conspiracy of a drug trafficking organization does not show nexus to that conspirator’s home. Being the leader, however, does. United States v. Mubarak, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133244 (D. Mass. July 27, 2022):
N-M: Cell phone search authorization for one day produced 200,000 images; but still not unreasonable because of how it was done
The search authorization for defendant’s cell phone for location data and images for a particular date was supported by probable cause. The Cellebrite download included 200,000 images, far more than the day in question. While looking for the day in … Continue reading
MI: Unreasonable interpretation of traffic law voids stop
Defendant and another person in cars from opposite directions stopped on a road with no other cars to chat [as in: police do that all the time, usually off the road, like at the EV charging station near my house]. … Continue reading
D.C.Cir.: FAA drone registration requirement violates no REP
The FAA rule requiring all drones when flying to transmit information about themselves violates no reasonable expectation of privacy. They operate in public airspace, which the federal government controls, and the rule requires a digital license plate but only electronically … Continue reading
USA Today: A lawyer in your pocket: Apps aim to change traffic stops forever with legal advice, live-streaming
USA Today: A lawyer in your pocket: Apps aim to change traffic stops forever with legal advice, live-streaming (“A review released this year of national police data gathered by the nonprofit Mapping Police Violence found police in the U.S. have … Continue reading
Reason: Pennsylvania Poaching Police Warrantlessly Installed Camera on Private Land To Surveil Hunting Club
Reason: Pennsylvania Poaching Police Warrantlessly Installed Camera on Private Land To Surveil Hunting Club by Jon Lancaster (“Evidence turned over in a lawsuit shows that wildlife officers set up a trail camera at a private club to surveil hunters who … Continue reading
Reason: What Is the FBI Trying To Hide About Its Raid on Innocent Americans’ Safe Deposit Boxes?
Reason: What Is the FBI Trying To Hide About Its Raid on Innocent Americans’ Safe Deposit Boxes? by Eric Boehm (“Federal prosecutors want to keep key details about the planning and execution of the March 2021 raid at U.S. Private … Continue reading
TX finally approves of anticipatory warrants
Texas high court finally approves of anticipatory warrants. Parker v. State, 2022 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 470 (July 27, 2022). On his motion for reconsideration, defendant’s Franks challenge still fails. There’s probable cause without the challenged information. “Courts long have … Continue reading
CA10: Arrest outside officer’s jurisdiction irrelevant under 4A
Even if the officer arrests plaintiff outside the jurisdiction, state law is irrelevant under the Fourth Amendment. The search incident to the arrest was valid. Frey v. Town of Jackson, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 20652 (10th Cir. July 26, 2022). … Continue reading
AZ: No REP in a police interrogation room
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a police interrogation room when a suspect is talking to anybody except their lawyer. State v. Allen, 2022 Ariz. LEXIS 235 (July 26, 2022). The defendant argues no reasonable suspicion for his … Continue reading
CA9: Having handgun in open carry state not RS without more
Washington is an open carry state, and the allegation defendant had a weapon on him was insufficient for a stop without some showing he was a danger to others per state law. United States v. Willy, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
D.S.D.: SW for shallow grave didn’t describe location well enough to easily find it, but GFE applies
The warrant’s direction to search for a shallow grave was not particularly described, and it was found a mile away from where the warrant directed. The attachment wasn’t incorporated. Still, however, the good faith exception applies. This was negligent at … Continue reading
Don’t take CP on a cash run
One search led to another. United States v. Orozco, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 20390 (4th Cir. July 25, 2022):
MI: Extending stop for photographs and fingerprints unreasonable
The Grand Rapids PD’s policy of photographing and fingerprinting people without probable cause or reasonable suspicion in a Terry stop violated the Fourth Amendment. It was a trespass on the body. Johnson v. Vanderkooi, 2022 Mich. LEXIS 1359 (July 22, … Continue reading