Archives
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- M.D.Pa.: Def was neither shipper nor recipient of USPS parcel, so he had no standing in it
- WI: Obtaining def’s DNA by ruse wasn’t an illegal search
- WaPo: Apple, Google and Venmo fight new U.S. plan to monitor payment apps
- CA4: Tracking order using cell site simulator with PC was reasonable
- CADC: When searching a cell phone and officers find it belonged to someone else, a new SW isn’t required; SWs are directed at things, places, and people and owner doesn’t matter for PC
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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)
--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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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: March 2023
Reason: An Oregon Man Was Wrongly Imprisoned for Almost a Year Because of an Error in a DMV Database
Reason: An Oregon Man Was Wrongly Imprisoned for Almost a Year Because of an Error in a DMV Database by Emma Camp (“Nicholas Chappelle spent almost a year in an Oregon prison after he was wrongfully convicted of driving with … Continue reading
D.S.C.: Lack of nexus to def isn’t grounds for motion to suppress; that’s a trial question
Lack of nexus between drugs and the defendant is an evidentiary question for trial, not a motion to suppress. The search is legal in any event. United States v. Cunningham, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43510 (D.S.C. Mar. 14, 2023). The … Continue reading
OH5: EMT wasn’t state actor for 4A purposes in detaining def
A paramedic kept defendant from driving after an accident because defendant was too impaired to drive. That was not a government seizure, even if the paramedic was a state actor. State v. Cruz, 2023-Ohio-794, 2023 Ohio App. LEXIS 760 (5th … Continue reading
E.D.Mo.: A lien on property here is not a 4A seizure
A lien on property here is not a Fourth Amendment seizure. Trident Steel Corp. v. Siffin, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43138 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 15, 2023). “Against that backdrop, a reasonable officer could certainly have interpreted Mr. Harris’s sudden lurch … Continue reading
NY1: Announcing “NYPD arrest warrant” after entry through an unlocked door violated knock-and-announce
Announcing “NYPD arrest warrant” after entry through an unlocked door violated the state statute on knock-and-announce. People v. Jones, 2023 NY Slip Op 01262, 2023 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1248 (1st Dept. Mar. 14, 2023). A successor 2255 petition based … Continue reading
CA7: Def seen on his way to a controlled buy was PC
There was probable cause for the search of defendant’s car stopped on the way to a controlled buy. United States v. Coates, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 6108 (7th Cir. Mar. 15, 2023).* Unreasonable responses from defendant stopping at a salvage … Continue reading
CA10: Overlong stop didn’t cause independent search incident
Defendant was subjected to a search incident for false identification. His overlong stop otherwise didn’t cause that. United States v. Anderson, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 5997 (10th Cir. Mar. 14, 2023).* “Teixeira struggles to throw shade on the reliability of … Continue reading
N.D.Ga.: Realtime CSLI for 24 hours based on exigency was reasonable under Carpenter
Realtime CSLI for one day to locate defendant and a child he had with him was reasonable under Carpenter. United States v. Castellanos, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41654 (N.D. Ga. Feb. 17, 2023), adopted, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40281 (N.D. … Continue reading
CNS: Prison warden faces suit for firing guard after ordering her strip search
CNS: Prison warden faces suit for firing guard after strip search (“An Arkansas federal court allowed a prison guard to bring her retaliatory seizure and unlawful seizure claims against the prison warden, who fired her a few days after she … Continue reading
CA1: Waiver of 4A claim in lower court is waiver for appeal
Defendant explicitly waived his Fourth Amendment claim in the district court, so he can’t appeal it. United States v. Concepcion-Guliam, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 5830 (1st Cir. Mar. 10, 2023). Delaware’s loitering statute gives the officer the right to ask … Continue reading
CA5: Videos alone show no QI
Based on the videos alone, there was excessive force and qualified immunity is denied. Ducksworth v. Landrum, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 5807 (5th Cir. Mar. 10, 2023):
CA8: GFE applies to dog sniff at apt door before law changed
Defendant’s apartment door was subjected to a dog sniff at his apartment door before the court limited it in United States v. Perez, 46 F.4th 691 (8th Cir. 2022). The good faith exception applies. United States v. Hines, 2023 U.S. … Continue reading
S.D.Ind.: 911 response to stabbing call had report of others inside; that was exigency
The officer arrived at plaintiff’s house because of a 911 call about a stabbing. A man who had been stabbed was outside and he said it happened inside and there were others. That justified the officer’s entry into the house. … Continue reading
Reason: Lawsuit: Prosecutors Filed Bogus Charges Against Detroit Man in Retaliation for Challenging Seizure of Car
Reason: Lawsuit: Prosecutors Filed Bogus Charges Against Detroit Man in Retaliation for Challenging Seizure of Car by C.A. Ciaramella (“The Institute for Justice says Robert Reeves’ First Amendment rights were violated when prosecutors filed and refiled baseless felony charges against … Continue reading
CA3: SWs based on inference alone risk failing on nexus; here, however, GFE applies
The affidavit could have been stronger because more information was available and not provided the USMJ. All things considered, it wasn’t so devoid of probable cause that the good faith exception applies. The court cautioned: “As Magistrate Judges may draw … Continue reading
D.N.M.: Lesser intrusive means to towing and inventory not constitutionally required
Lesser intrusive means to towing and inventory are not constitutionally required under Bertine. And here, the traffic stop was legal under Glover because the driver of the unregistered vehicle was the same gender as the registered owner. United States v. … Continue reading
D.Idaho: Def can’t get access to his cell phone yet because govt has yet to search it because it’s password protected
Defendant wants return of his cell phone because he asserts, without specifying, that there is exculpatory evidence on it. The government responds that it hasn’t opened the phone yet because it is password protected. The government wants the password to … Continue reading
E.D.La.: No standing in car with stolen LP and no explanation for why driving it
“The Government, however, also provided evidence that the vehicle is not titled to Duncan and had a stolen license plate, arguing that these facts in conjunction establish that while Duncan possessed the vehicle, there is nothing to suggest he did … Continue reading
NJ: Analysis of “unforeseeable and spontaneous” PC for application of the NJ automobile exception is case-by-case
Analysis of “unforeseeable and spontaneous” probable cause for application of the automobile exception in New Jersey is case-by-case. State v. Smart, 2023 N.J. LEXIS 208 (Mar. 8, 2023):