The officer’s unreasonable mistake of law on windshield tint (“can’t have tint at all” v. it can have some) did not make the stop reasonable under Heien. Griffin v. United States, 2026 D.C. App. LEXIS 95 (Mar. 19, 2026).
Defendant’s nolo plea to a drug charge where the search also led to federal child pornography charges wasn’t issue preclusion in federal court, followed CA2 and CA10. United States v. Vorse, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57442 (D. Neb. Mar. 19, 2026).*
Officers knew and could see defendant fled into a house, and they could follow to arrest him. Versey v. Ebert, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57555 (E.D. Wis. Mar. 19, 2026).*
Police seized defendant’s cell phone and sought to have it examined. It went into the queue at the forensic unit, and, when it was ready to be searched, they then sought a warrant. They waited because they believed there was only a 10-day window after the warrant issued. The delay was reasonable given the explanation. Gambino v. State, 2026 Md. App. LEXIS 287 (Mar. 17, 2026).
A label-less distinctive promethazine bottle in plain view was at least reasonable suspicion. Here, however, coupled with defendant’s known propensity for drugs and violence, it was probable cause. People v. Cummings, 2026 Mich. App. LEXIS 2274 (Mar. 18, 2026)* (unpublished).
Defense counsel isn’t ineffective for not anticipating changes in the law and making motions to suppress that were foreclosed at the time. Williams v. State, 2026 Md. App. LEXIS 288 (Mar. 17, 2026)* (unpublished).
Defense counsel made reasonable choices not to pursue two Fourth Amendment challenges because it was likely that they’d lose. Williams v. State, 2026 Md. App. LEXIS 288 (Mar. 17, 2026)* (unreported):
Nonprivileged information in a patient’s medical records does not automatically become privileged when it is transmitted to or acquired by a healthcare provider. The physician-patient privilege statute does not prohibit a district court from issuing an order granting the State’s request for a warrant authorizing a particularized search of a criminal suspect’s medical records where the suspect was injured at the scene of a traffic accident. State v. Smeby, 2026 Minn. LEXIS 101 (Mar. 18, 2026).
The seizure of plaintiff’s bus was without a warrant, but that’s not a Fourth Amendment violation. Ravenscroft v. Cellar, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56133 (D. Neb. Mar. 18, 2026).*
“Figueroa’s response to those questions, in light of other attendant factors, gave Albrecht reasonable suspicion to believe that she was engaged in unlawful drug trafficking. In particular, he knew the Buick had a travel history that, based on his training and experience, was suspicious and consistent with drug trafficking. … Then, when Albrecht asked Figueroa about her travel history, she lied about it. And so did Lopez, who gave a completely different story. That also gives rise to reasonable suspicion. … In addition, Albrecht knew that Figueroa had previously been arrested for possession of a controlled substance. This, too, can contribute to an officer’s reasonable suspicion of drug trafficking.” United States v. Figueroa, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56392 (D. Kan. Mar. 17, 2026).*
Reason: The Feds Are Investing in Wearable Health Trackers. That Could Put Your Private Data at Risk. by Jeffrey A. Singer & Patrick Eddington (“By gathering continuous data about sleep, heart rate, and physical activity, biowearable devices can give individuals more control over their well-being. But they also create a detailed digital record of our daily lives—one that the federal government may soon be able to access readily. Consider this scenario. You’ve recently received a government-subsidized biowearable. Accordingly, the authorities now know when you’re sleeping, because the device reports your sleep cycle, location, and daily movements in real time to a cloud server accessible through a legal process. It knows when you’re home. It knows when you leave. Those data are then obtained by an FBI field office (either through direct purchase or, if necessary, a legal process), because a federal prosecutor has decided that your criticism of immigration enforcement operations and your social media posts supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters constitute ‘incitement to violence’ against federal agents.”)
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NPR: ICE officers are taking DNA samples from protesters they’ve arrested by Meg Anderson (“In statements made under oath as part of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s handling of immigration enforcement, [protesters] said they were arrested, seemingly without provocation, while protesting ICE and then had officers take or try to take what appeared to be a sample of their DNA.”)
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Pulling defendant out of his doorway when he opened his door was not a violation of Payton. People v. Honyghan, 2026 NYLJ LEXIS 435 (N.Y. Co. Mar. 18, 2026).
“The arresting officers’ body-worn camera videos reveal that Plaintiff was visibly intoxicated when officers approached his car, repeatedly refused to answer questions or cooperate with directives, and reached his hand into his jacket to retrieve an unknown object when officers attempted to remove him from his vehicle. All three Graham factors therefore support the reasonableness of the force used. Most notably, the officers reasonably suspected a threat to their safety when Plaintiff reached into his jacket and did so again even after being instructed not to do so.” King v. Davis, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7913 (2d Cir. Mar. 18, 2026).*
An Apple Pay account is a financial account exempted from warrantless probation searches. Meiner v. Superior Court, 2026 Cal. App. LEXIS 166 (4th Dist. Mar. 18, 2026).*
The informant doesn’t need a “track record” to be credited as a source of information. State v. Vandergrift, 2026 N.C. App. LEXIS 202 (Mar. 18, 2026).
Police responded to a stolen ATM report and found defendant near an ATM in a shopping cart covered with a tarp. He matched the description they received. He had a ski mask on his head but it was hot. He reached for his waistband and tossed what officers believed was a gun in his car, locking it with the key fob. He was evasive in answering questions. This was reasonable suspicion. United States v. Pennycooke, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7906 (3d Cir. Mar. 18, 2026).*
“The undisputed evidence in this case shows that Marr actively resisted arrest. When the officers first attempted to handcuff him, he prevented them from cuffing his right hand by pulling it away from their grasp. Then, after the officers wrestled him to the ground, he did not comply with their commands to stop moving and instead struggled and thrashed about. Such actions, this court has repeatedly held, permit officers to use force without violating clearly established law.” Est. of Marr v. City of Glasgow, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7908 (6th Cir. Mar. 16, 2026).*
AP: Rapper Afroman wins lawsuit against police over mocking their 2022 raid in viral music videos by Maryclaire Dale (“The Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman won a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Ohio sheriff’s deputies who sued him over music videos in which he used home security footage to mock their raid of his home. ‘We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!’ the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, shouted outside the courthouse after the Wednesday evening verdict. He later posted the clip to social media. The case tested the limits of parody and the license artists can take in social commentary directed at public figures. The deputies, collectively, sought nearly $4 million in damages.” “No charges were filed over the 2022 raid, which the warrant said was part of a drug and kidnapping investigation. In his testimony, he said he had the right to tell his friends and fans what police had done. He said the raid traumatized his children, then 10 and 12.”) Nothing sought in the warrant was found.
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FoxNews: Surveillance tech causes police to accuse wrong woman in porch theft investigation (“License plate reader data led to police accusing the wrong woman of porch theft before new evidence showed the suspect’s vehicle was not at the scene.” It was outside her house. The officer involved was sent for retraining.) So ALPR isn’t a panacea?
Defendant stole Dempsey’s car. The trial court decided he had no standing in a stolen car. The supreme court held that Dempsey’s third-party consent to search defendant’s stuff was invalid. State v. Flores-Reyes, 2026 MT 56 (Mar. 17, 2026). [Generally, there’s a lack of standing in a stolen car. § 4.15 n.6-11.]
Pleading a Fourth Amendment claim without facts isn’t sufficient. Alston v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Corr., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55710 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 17, 2026).*
Smell of marijuana and a bong falling out of the glove box was plain view. State v. Sosa-Valdez, 2026 N.C. App. LEXIS 210 (Mar. 18, 2026).*
In a child pornography case, facts about defendant sending money to the Phillippines a year and a half earlier wasn’t stale. Date restrictions in child pornography cases generally aren’t material. United States v. Marshall, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55794 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 27, 2026).*
License plate readers violate no reasonable expectation of privacy. Also, the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion. United States v. Porter, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7888 (5th Cir. Mar. 17, 2026).
The informant’s information was sufficient to show probable cause for the warrant. Even if it didn’t, it was still enough for the good faith exception to apply. United States v. Webb, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55701 (S.D. Ill. Mar. 17, 2026).*
Officers were in a high crime area where they’d previously made many drug arrests. They encountered defendant and spoke to him, and his words and nervousness piqued their interest. On the bodycam videos, he’s not seized until reasonable suspicion developed. Commonwealth v. Robinson, 2026 PA Super 49 (Mar. 17, 2026).*
The search incident of defendant’s partially open backpack was reasonable after he was arrested for fleeing on a motorcycle and had a gun in his waist. United States v. Rocklage-Dompierre, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55131 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 17, 2026).*
An ex parte search warrant isn’t appropriate to resolve an unresolved question of law about whether an Indian Tribe can condition access to tribal lands without an “assess permit.” An adversary proceeding is required. In re Search Warrant Application in EPA Admin. Insp. on Ute Tribal Land, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55160 (D. Utah Mar. 13, 2026):
A search warrant application that was notarized with an expired notary stamp was not a Fourth Amendment violation. McAlister v. Kansas, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55139 (D. Kan. Mar. 17, 2026).
2255 petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim for not moving to suppress is foreclosed by the Fourth Circuit’s addressing the merits of the search issue on appeal by plain error review as law of the case. Ojedokun v. United States, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54770 (D. Md. Mar. 17, 2026).
Defendant had a meritorious motion to suppress his cell phone which all happened after Riley, but it wasn’t pursued. New trial ordered with evidence suppressed. Commonwealth v. Hunter, 2026 PA Super 48 (Mar. 17, 2026).*
The search warrant here for child pornography was particular and the time limit didn’t really matter for staleness. In any event, the good faith exception applies. United States v. Johnson, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54830 (N.D.N.Y. Mar. 17, 2026).*
During the George Floyd riots, the day after a Minneapolis’s third police precinct was burned down, there was another protest around the fifth precinct in violation of a city-wide curfew. Plaintiff was shot in the head with a nonlethal projectile in a group of protestors. It was not unreasonable force under the circumstances. Bartz v. City of Minneapolis, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7905 (8th Cir. Mar. 18, 2026):
After arrest of driver, the protective sweep of the car left to passenger who owned it, was insured, and had a DL was unreasonable. It was done just because of her romantic relationship with the arrestee. United States v. Williams, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7751 (10th Cir. Mar. 17, 2026):
“On a cold, late December morning, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision parole officers were attempting to locate a parole absconder for whom they had an arrest warrant.” People v. Jones, 236 A.D.3d 1410, 229 N.Y.S.3d 287 (4th Dept. 2025) (dissenting opinion). For descriptors they had height and weight and a potential location. Near that location came defendant, not the absconder, wearing a ski mask on a cold day, and he fled when the POs came after him. In flight, he tossed a gun and some drugs. There was no reasonable suspicion for them to pursue and detain him. People v. Jones, 2026 NY Slip Op 01447, 2026 N.Y. LEXIS 320 (Mar. 17, 2026) (5-2):
Defendant’s violating a “no firearms” prohibition at a retail establishment was reasonable suspicion for his stop for trespassing. United States v. Sinkfield, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54823 (N.D. Ohio Mar. 17, 2026).
To succeed on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the underlying Fourth Amendment claim must be meritorious, and this one is barred by law of the case. United States v. Munoz, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54819 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 9, 2026).*
There was reasonable suspicion for defendant’s stop and the bodycam video is not suppressed. United States v. Garcia, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7649 (5th Cir. Mar. 16, 2026).*
Text messages and surveillance provided probable cause for this warrant. United States v. Jackson, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 7671 (6th Cir. Mar. 16, 2026).*
"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, 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.
