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Recent Posts
- NY3: No REP in SHU surveillance
- E.D.Mich.: PC and nexus to cell phone shown by drug deal arranged on an app
- W.D.Tex.: Texas Request to Examine Statute fails under Patel
- Forbes: FinCEN Says Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Reports Are Voluntary Following Court Decision
- S.D.W.Va.: Issuance of a criminal citation is not a seizure
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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 (27,400+ on WordPress as of 7/23/24) -
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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)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
ACLU on privacy
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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: August 2024
MO: Break in chain from Good Samaritan Law entry occurred when def was searched for transport in police car
The Missouri Good Samaritan Law provides immunity from prosecution from evidence of crime found as a result of a medically-related entry. Here, however, defendant was searched before he was placed in a patrol car, and immunity wasn’t what the legislature … Continue reading
D.Minn.: Warrantless ion scan of car door handle was reasonable
A DNA ion scan of a car door handle was reasonable, relying on United States v. Jones, 2024 WL 1810220 (D. Minn. Apr. 25, 2024), finding no reasonable expectation of privacy in an ion scan on an apartment door from … Continue reading
E.D.Tenn.: A lab report used to support PC doesn’t have to be included in the affidavit
“As to the omissions cited by defendant, the Court concludes that they do not detract from the probable cause analysis, as such elaborate specificity is not required. See Gates, 462 U.S. at 235 (explaining that search warrant affidavits ‘are normally … Continue reading
CA7: SW affiant doesn’t have to explore all of def’s possible defenses in affidavit
When the affiant officer establishes probable cause for a search warrant, he or she isn’t required to explore all the defenses or affirmative defenses the search target may have to put in the affidavit. Here, this arose in the context … Continue reading
MN: The totality of circumstances claimed to be RS were more innocent that suggesting criminality was afoot
“Altogether, the totality of the circumstances in this record do not amount to particularized suspicion. The officer acknowledged he did not have sufficient evidence to support a DUI investigation. The evidence at the suppression hearing consisted of ‘“otherwise perfectly legal … Continue reading
LA2: SI before arrest was still valid
Defendant was stopped for aggravated assault from allegedly waving a gun. The search incident of his bag for a gun was reasonable as a search incident even though it preceded the arrest. State v. Gipson, 2024 La. App. LEXIS 1382 … Continue reading
OR: Def’s removing a vehicle from impound lot subject to SW supported tampering charge even if the initial seizure was invalid
After a stop, defendant’s truck was seized and he was told that a search warrant would be sought for it. In the impound lot at 3 and 5 am, defendant showed up in the impound lot and was seen on … Continue reading
W.D.Wash.: Warrantless arrest in def’s doorway violated 4A
Defendant’s warrantless arrest in his doorway violated the Fourth Amendment. After objecting, defendant acceded to their demands when they pulled a Taser on him. The remedy of what to do with his statement will be addressed later. United States v. … Continue reading
NM: Def’s new crime after arrest not to be excluded
“We agree with the Court of Appeals that the new crime exception to the exclusionary rule applies and we agree with its analysis of the issue. The exclusionary rule applies only where its deterrence benefits outweigh its societal costs. Strieff, … Continue reading
N.D.Fla.: Speeding stop doesn’t require state to prove officer’s speedometer was properly calibrated
Speeding 10 over the speed limit justified the stop, and the state didn’t have to prove the police car speedometer was properly calibrated. United States v. Powell, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153757 (N.D. Fla. Aug. 8, 2024), adopted, 2024 U.S. … Continue reading
The Well News: The Silent Erosion of Privacy: Why We Should Care About Financial Surveillance
The Well News: The Silent Erosion of Privacy: Why We Should Care About Financial Surveillance by John Yelland (“In today’s digital age, financial transactions are meticulously tracked by both private companies and government entities. This pervasive financial surveillance often goes … Continue reading
TX14: The dog sniff violated the 4A because the dog’s nose went in the car window
The dog sniff violated the Fourth Amendment because the dog’s nose went in the car window and sniffed the interior. State v. Organ, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 6279 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) Aug. 27, 2024). “We conclude that … Continue reading
The Guardian: US police use force on 300,000 people a year, with numbers rising since George Floyd: ‘relentless violence’
The Guardian: US police use force on 300,000 people a year, with numbers rising since George Floyd: ‘relentless violence’ by Sam Levin (“Police in the US use force on at least 300,000 people each year, injuring an estimated 100,000 of … Continue reading
CA1: GFE applies to alleged staleness of SW
Defendant operated a pill-making operation in his house for years without detection. He moved to a new place without suspicion for it. The warrant for the prior house was not sufficiently stale to still be valid under the good faith … Continue reading
CA4: Def’s failure to explain Franks claim means no abuse of discretion in denying motion to suppress
“[W]e agree with the district court that nothing in either motion justified a Franks hearing because, at bottom, Bordeaux did not explain the basis for his multiple assertions of falsity or make a sufficient showing that the officers acting knowingly … Continue reading
HI: Failure to litigate application of Posse Commitatus Act was IAC under state law
Defense counsel was ineffective for not raising the Posse Comitatus Act where his offense was just outside the Pearl Harbor base and the military was the first to respond. Other courts disagree, but the state exclusionary rule shows that there … Continue reading