Archives
-
Recent Posts
- W.D.N.C.: No REP in a police interview room
- TX2: No SW needed to get IMEI number of an abandoned cell phone to trace the owner
- W.D.Pa.: Affidavit for SW doesn’t have to say CI was reliable when the facts and circumstances alleged showed it
- S.D.N.Y.: GJ subpoena for cell phone passcode quashed.
- S.D.N.Y.: There’s a privacy interest in a cell phone passcode, but its disclosure here under a ruse does not lead to suppression
-
-
ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2017); ABA Journal Blawg 100 (2015-16) (discontinued 2018)
-
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) -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Amendment cases,
citations, and links -
Latest Slip Opinions:
U.S. Supreme Court (Home)
Federal Appellate Courts Opinions
First Circuit
Second Circuit
Third Circuit
Fourth Circuit
Fifth Circuit
Sixth Circuit
Seventh Circuit
Eighth Circuit
Ninth Circuit
Tenth Circuit
Eleventh Circuit
D.C. Circuit
Federal Circuit
Foreign Intell.Surv.Ct.
FDsys, many district courts, other federal courts
Military Courts: C.A.A.F., Army, AF, N-M, CG, SF
State courts (and some USDC opinions)
Google Scholar
Advanced Google Scholar
Google search tips
LexisWeb
LII State Appellate Courts
LexisONE free caselaw
Findlaw Free Opinions
To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
Research Links:
Supreme Court:
SCOTUSBlog
S. Ct. Docket
Solicitor General's site
SCOTUSreport
Briefs online (but no amicus briefs)
Oyez Project (NWU)
"On the Docket"–Medill
S.Ct. Monitor: Law.com
S.Ct. Com't'ry: Law.com
-
General (many free):
LexisWeb
Google Scholar | Google
LexisOne Legal Website Directory
Crimelynx
Lexis.com $
Lexis.com (criminal law/ 4th Amd) $
Findlaw.com
Findlaw.com (4th Amd)
Westlaw.com $
F.R.Crim.P. 41
www.fd.org
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Resources
FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (2008) (pdf)
DEA Agents Manual (2002) (download)
DOJ Computer Search Manual (2009) (pdf)
Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
-
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
Privacy Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
NACDL’s Domestic Drone Information Center
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Criminal Appeal (post-conviction) (9th Cir.)
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)
Website design by Wally Waller, Little Rock 
Monthly Archives: August 2022
D.D.C.: No REP in Facebook posting tracking information
There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the “tracking information” of underlying data in one’s social media accounts or time and location information of postings. Moreover, Facebook post tracking information is more voluntary and not fulltime tracking like CSLI … Continue reading
S.D.Fla.: Threats against LEOs involved in execution of SW requires affidavit remain sealed
Public threats against FBI agents involved in the search requires leaving the affidavit for the search warrant under seal. In re Warrant, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150388 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 22, 2022). Defendant’s traffic stop was factually based and not … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Former AUSA as USMJ not automatically recused from hearing motion to suppress
The USMJ hearing the motion to suppress in this case was earlier an AUSA in the office prosecuting it. She had nothing to do with this case, so recusal is not required. (“Neutral and detached” never mentioned.) United States v. … Continue reading
E.D.Va.: Drug paraphernalia was in plain view before flashlight put through window
Drug paraphernalia seen from outside the vehicle before sticking a flashlight in the window was a valid plain view. United States v. Johnson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149401 (E.D. Va. Aug. 19, 2022).* There was probable cause for plaintiff’s prosecution, … Continue reading
CA6: No QI for 3 strip searches a day for inmate in segregation
Plaintiff’s prison warden denied qualified immunity for ordering three strip searches a day on plaintiff when he was in segregation. Fugate v. Erdos, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 23208 (6th Cir. Aug. 18, 2022). “The defendant officers were attempting to locate … Continue reading
W.D.Pa.: A request to show hands requires RS
The facts not being in dispute, no hearing was required on defendant’s motion to suppress. A request to show hands required reasonable suspicion. United States v. Chambers, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148692 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 19, 2022). Defendant alluded to … Continue reading
MI: No RS for getting def out of car for a frisk
Defendant’s stop was justified, but getting him out of the vehicle for a frisk was not. Suppressed. People v. Turner, 2022 Mich. App. LEXIS 4943 (Aug. 18, 2022) (2-1). On the totality, defendant consented to an interview in his own … Continue reading
OH5: No standing in rental car where contract expired and driver was not authorized on contract
“The evidence demonstrated the vehicle was owned by the rental company, it was leased to someone other than Appellant, the rental agreement had lapsed, and the record does not support Appellant having authorization to use the vehicle. As a result, … Continue reading
W.D.Mo.: SW for the entirety of def’s Instagram account was not a general search
The warrant for the entirety of defendant’s Instagram account was not a general search. United States v. Smith, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147892 (W.D. Mo. Aug. 18, 2022). Seeing a handgun protruding from defendant’ waistband as he walked down the … Continue reading
CA7: Shooting a man using a running chainsaw as an apparent weapon was subject to QI
Shooting a man advancing on an officer with a running chainsaw who was ignoring police commands to stop was subject to qualified immunity. Esker v. Lutz, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 23033 (7th Cir. Aug. 18, 2022).* The defendant officers’ contention … Continue reading
D.Haw.: A frivolous motion to suppress can harm the cause
Not filing a frivolous motion to suppress isn’t ineffective assistance of counsel, and it could harm the cause more than help. United States v. Sesepasara, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147899 (D. Haw. Aug. 18, 2022):
CA1: Suit v. IRS for third-party records retention might state claim, remanded
The taxpayer’s third-party financial records suit was not barred by the Anti-Injunction Act. It was not against collection of a tax, but the government retaining records. Remanded to consider other issues as well. Harper v. Rettig, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
CA8: Pre-Jardines dog sniff at apt door saved by GFE
Pre-Jardines dog sniff at the door of an apartment was valid when it happened, so it is saved by the good faith exception under Davis. United States v. Perez, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 22977 (8th Cir. Aug. 18, 2022). “In … Continue reading
TX1: Consent to handling cell phone led to plain view of CP
Defendant consented to the officer handling his secondary cell phone that wasn’t able to make calls. The officer accidentally saw child pornography on the phone in plain view, and it was all reasonable. Thomson v. State, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS … Continue reading
S.D.W.Va.: Using an alias to rent a hotel room is not a waiver of a REP in it
The use of an alias to rent a hotel room doesn’t forfeit a reasonable expectation of privacy in it. The warrantless entry here was unreasonable. United States v. Henning, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147239 (S.D. W. Va. Aug. 17, 2022). … Continue reading
OH7: Questioning def about drugs on his person extended stop
The traffic stop was delayed, and the public safety exception was not applicable, where the officer asked a compound question, and the questioning only appeared directed at getting an admission by appellant that he had drugs on him and suggesting … Continue reading
M.D.Pa.: Air freshener in a non-smoking rental car factor in RS
“[T]he air freshener in a non-smoking rental car was an early and legitimate basis for suspicion to be aroused. In general, the use of air fresheners is a recognized factor contributing to reasonable suspicion.” United States v. Hawari-Rasulullah, 2022 U.S. … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Not 4A violation to order def to keep hands visible
It is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment to tell the defendant to keep his hands visible and not reach in the car during a stop. If a person can be ordered out of the car for officer safety, … Continue reading
MS: SW for Arkansas car’s GPS was used to put it at scene of crime
Defendant’s car was registered in Arkansas and was believed to be in a shootout in Mississippi. The car was found in Arkansas. Defendant was arrested on a Mississippi warrant and a search warrant was issued for the car’s GPS to … Continue reading