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Recent Posts
- N.D.Tex.: AUSA can summarize what the gov’t knows for SW application
- S.D.N.Y.: No right to quash SCA warrant before execution; remedies are after
- S.D.N.Y.: SW not based on mere speculation
- D.Mont.: Officers had RS for stop; it wasn’t based on the race of the suspects
- M.D.Pa.: SW for phone 19 months after alleged crimes showed PC
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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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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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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)
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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. 
Monthly Archives: October 2023
CA3: SoL for illegal search claims not tolled by incarcerated
Plaintiff inmate’s statute of limitations for an illegal search claim starts when he should be aware of the claim and it is not tolled while he is incarcerated. Poteat v. Lydon, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 26961 (3d Cir. Oct. 11, … Continue reading
CA8: Continuation of arrest after the officer learned it was unjustified denied the officer QI
Continuation of plaintiff’s arrest after the officer learned it was unjustified denied the officer qualified immunity. “Even if we concluded Officer Holtan made a reasonable mistake about probable cause when he first tackled Nieters to the ground, Nieters immediately informed … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: Whether DTF officer could make speeding stops was a reasonable mistake of law under Heien
The task force officer involved allegedly wasn’t authorized to make speeding traffic stops, but this was a reasonable mistake of law under Heien. United States v. Shepherd, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181976 (N.D. Ala. Oct. 10, 2023). The bulge in … Continue reading
D.Haw.: 11-month delay in getting DNA warrant was reasonable
An eleven month delay in the government obtaining a DNA warrant was reasonable. “Under the totality of the circumstances, the Court concludes that, while the search warrant perhaps could have been sought earlier, the eleven-month period between arrest and the … Continue reading
D.N.M.: RS not needed for questions at a fixed immigration checkpoint
Defendant’s questioning about his work at a fixed immigration checkpoint did not require reasonable suspicion. United States v. Briscoe, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181188 (D.N.M. Oct. 6, 2023). There was reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop at gunpoint for his being … Continue reading
D.Mont.: Def’s interest in his package is a reasonable delivery time, but not an exact time
When a package in transit is detained for investigation, the person named on the package has an interest in a reasonable delivery time, but not an exact time. United States v. Hamlin, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180215 (D. Mont. Oct. … Continue reading
MA: Officer recording drug deal on cell phone governed by state wiretap law
An officer’s surreptitious recording of a drug deal with a cell phone is an interception of a communication under the state wiretapping law. Commonwealth v. Du, 2023 Mass. App. LEXIS 143 (Oct. 6, 2023). The publicly available address (SoS, website, … Continue reading
DE: High crime area + messy car ≠ RS
Defendant lived in a “high crime area,” and that did not make his car subject to search just because of alleged tips. “When Officer Millner asked Defendant whether there were guns or drugs in the vehicle, Defendant replied ‘no’ and … Continue reading
CA10: Inevitable discovery applies despite lack of PC in first SW
Even though the initial search warrant was issued without probable cause, inevitable discovery can still apply. United States v. Streett, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 26423 (10th Cir. Oct. 5, 2023):
W.D.Wash.: Administrative SDT to Starbucks is reasonable in scope
An administrative subpoena duces tecum to Starbucks is enforced. It is reasonable in scope. Su v. Starbucks Corp., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179355 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 4, 2023):
W.D.N.Y.: Parolee had standing in place searched despite his reduced REP
The R&R determined that defendant parolee had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the place searched because of his parole status alone. The District Judge disagrees, finds enough standing to contest the search, and remands to the USMJ to decide … Continue reading
AR: Dog alerted outside before it went in open door to sniff again
A drug dog alerted on defendant’s car before the dog approached an open door and sniffed inside, too. The outside alert made the inside alert reasonable. Fleming v. State, 2023 Ark. App. 439 (Oct. 4, 2023). Officers received an anonymous … Continue reading
S.D.Ind. Warrant for video surveillance required under Title III
A warrant for CCTV surveillance of the defendant came under the wiretap statute, Title III, and necessity and probable cause was shown. United States v. Jones, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178457 (S.D. Ind. Oct. 4, 2023). The totality of information … Continue reading
CA6: Smell of MJ on student’s person justified school search
The smell of marijuana on a student’s person justified a school search, and here it was their backpack then pockets. Stanford v. Northmont City Sch. Dist., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 26336 (6th Cir. Oct. 2, 2023). This § 1983 plaintiff … Continue reading
OH: Written inventory not always required to justify it
The failure of officers to make a written inventory doesn’t necessarily constitutionally nullify the inventory. Officer’s testimony about the standardized procedures was sufficient without actually putting the policy into evidence. State v. Toran, 2023-Ohio-3564, 2023 Ohio LEXIS 1957 (Oct. 4, … Continue reading
CA11: Officer gets QI for ordering passenger to produce ID
The officer in a Florida traffic stop could get the driver out of the vehicle as a matter of course under Mimms. Under Maryland v. Wilson, he could order the passenger out, too. It was not clearly established law that … Continue reading
Guardian: TechScape: How police use location and search data to find suspects – and not always the right ones
Guardian: TechScape: How police use location and search data to find suspects – and not always the right ones (“It’s a practice public defenders, privacy advocates and many lawmakers have criticised, arguing it violates fourth amendment protections against unreasonable searches. … Continue reading
CA6: Incriminating nature of gun was reasonably immediately apparent to officers
The incriminating nature of an AR-15 was immediately apparent to the officers. They don’t have to know that it’s contraband, just that it’s reasonably likely. On this record, that was shown. United States v. Grier, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 26077 … Continue reading