Defendant had no standing to challenge a group chat obtained by search warrant from a social media provider of another person’s account. (Defendants discussed a kidnapping over group chat.) United States v. Blake, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3686 (6th Cir. Feb. 5, 2026).
Qualified immunity denied in this excessive force case. Issues remain for trial over whether gratuitous force was used against the plaintiff. Pears v. Franklin, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3691 (11th Cir. Feb. 5, 2026).*
Plaintiff’s complaint against prosecutors for allegedly disclosing jail calls doesn’t state a claim here, plus there’s likely prosecutorial immunity. Tenace v. Pratt, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23131 (N.D.N.Y. Feb. 3, 2026).*
In a 25-year-old cold case of a buried infant, officers got a warrant for defendant’s DNA. She argued she was in custody for purposes of her statement given at the time, but she wasn’t. The officers were clear on that. People v. Gerwatowski, 2026 Mich. App. LEXIS 981 (Feb. 4, 2026).
This is the second suppression motion in this case, and it’s a month out of time and virtually identical to one already denied. United States v. Richmond, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23604 (D.S.D. Feb. 3, 2026).*
“A vehicle stop generally comports with the Fourth Amendment when it is supported by ‘probable cause that an occupant of the [vehicle] has committed a traffic offense,’ even if the officer stopped the vehicle ‘for a different reason.’” United States v. Hollyfield, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23257 (E.D. Tenn. Feb. 4, 2026).*
404 Media: FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled by Joseph Cox (“Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the feature might be effective at stopping third parties unlocking someone’s device. At least for now.”)
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Inconsistency in travel plans alone isn’t reasonable suspicion to extend a vehicle stop. The officer has to conclude that one of the occupants was lying about plans. “A trooper can reasonably suspect criminal activity when a driver and passenger lie about their travel plans. … But arguable inconsistencies may sometimes be innocent: A person might mishear a trooper’s question, might think the travel plans are none of the trooper’s business, might misremember details of a trip, or might be confused. See United States v. Santos, 403 F.3d 1120, 1131-32 (10th Cir. 2005) (discussing innocent explanations for inconsistencies in travel plans). When an inconsistency indisputably shows that the driver or passenger is lying, a trooper’s suspicion may be reasonable. United States v. Wallace, 429 F.3d 969, 976 (10th Cir. 2005).” United States v. Robbins, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3621 (10th Cir. Feb. 5, 2026).
A revocation petition’s affirmation of the truth of what was pled satisfied the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Jimenez, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22486 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 3, 2026).*
Defendant’s post-conviction petition over his alleged illegal search was years out of time. State v. Davis, 2026 Del. Super. LEXIS 54 (Feb. 1, 2026).*
Defendant was sexually involved with the victim, and he apparently was the last person to see her alive, and had contact with her after she disappeared. That was probable cause. State v. Johnson, 2026 Conn. LEXIS 19 (Feb. 3, 2026).
Defendant lost in state court on his Fourth Amendment claim, so there’s no ineffective assistance of counsel claim in habeas. Cunningham v. Cargor, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22217 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 3, 2026).*
Defendant seen alleged to be burning clothes he wore in a robbery in his grill in his yard was not protected because it could be seen from off the property. United States v. Flounoury, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22269 (D. Mass. Jan. 21, 2026).*
“Appellant Brittney Kennedy appeals the dismissal of constitutional claims she brought on behalf of her deceased husband, Marquis Kennedy, who suffered a cardiac arrest after a self-defense simulation for police-cadet training. She claims the district court erred by concluding that the training exercise involved no constitutional seizure and that the officers owed Marquis no constitutional duty of medical care. [¶] Marquis’s death is a tragedy, above all for his surviving wife and child. Like the district court, however, we cannot find any plausible allegation that the defendants violated the Constitution. Accordingly, we AFFIRM.” Kennedy v. City of Arlington, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3535 (5th Cir. Feb. 4, 2026).*
There’s a fact dispute on the reasonableness of force, so no qualified immunity. Lewis v. Nanos, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3479 (9th Cir. Feb. 4, 2026).*
Plaintiff’s arrest at a Salvation Army conference room wasn’t in his residence, although he stayed there. Walker v. Gatsios, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3416 (7th Cir. Feb. 2, 2026).*
Being in a high crime area means less when defendant is doing nothing wrong. Defendant didn’t run away from officers until they came after him. It’s kind of provoked flight, not Wardlow’s “headlong flight.” On the totality, there was no reasonable suspicion, and the motion to suppress is granted. United States v. Springs, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22747 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 4, 2026).*
The officer gave the PBT to placate the victim, not because he thought defendant was actually impaired. Still, “Viewed in their totality, and in light of the low standard for reasonable suspicion, the facts presented in this case provide a particularized and objective basis for suspecting that Lorsung was driving while impaired.” Lorsung v. Comm’r of Pub. Safety, 2026 Minn. LEXIS 52 (Feb. 4, 2026).*
Defendant’s new crime after his allegedly unreasonably extended stop wouldn’t be suppressed. State v. Mire, 2026 Wisc. App. LEXIS 122 (Feb. 4, 2026).*
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The general 48-hour rule for first appearances doesn’t apply to non-citizens arrested at sea. United States v. Dominguez, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3529 (11th Cir. Feb. 4, 2026).
“Because the 911 caller’s information did not describe conduct that was obviously criminal, Romero Gonzalez argues that the information did not provide reasonable suspicion to support the stop. We disagree. [¶] The 911 caller reported yelling and screaming coming from the truck parked next to her, accompanied by motions variously described as ‘hitting,’ ‘kicking,’ and ‘swatting’ that were violent enough to cause the truck to visibly rock. This information suggested the possibility that an assault was underway in the truck. Moreover, the screaming and hitting stopped as soon as the caller turned on the lights to her car, and the back-seat passenger stared at the caller as she was driving out of the parking area. Because an experienced officer could reasonably view these actions as showing a consciousness of guilt, they provided additional reasons to believe that an assault may be underway.” United States v. Gonzalez, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3500 (4th Cir. Feb. 4, 2026).*
Posted inForeign searches, Reasonable suspicion|Comments Off on CA11: The general 48-hour rule for first appearances doesn’t apply to non-citizens arrested at sea
There is no legal privilege in pharmacy records. Pharmacists are independent actors in the medical field. The trial court erred in granting a motion in limine. Just because a psychotherapist prescribed a drug isn’t privileged. State v. Borek, 2026 Ida. LEXIS 21 (Feb. 4, 2026).
The officer passing defendant’s parked vehicle rolled down his window and smelled burning marijuana. That was plain smell and wasn’t a search. United States v. Fudge, No. 8:25CR164, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22150 (D. Neb. Jan. 9, 2026).*
“Once a traffic stop is lawful, officers may order the driver to exit the vehicle without violating the Fourth Amendment. Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 111 (1977); …” State v. Campbell, 2026-Ohio-335 (5th Dist. Feb. 3, 2026).*
“The Court is further unpersuaded by the Defendant’s assertion that the installation of software, aimed at preserving evidence rather than conducting a search, on the Defendant’s cellphone was an improper or unconstitutional intrusion. The manner in which law enforcement handled the Defendant’s cellphone after his arrest constituted reasonable steps to preserve data and prevent the locking or encryption of same.” People v. Martinez, 2026 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 340 (N.Y. Co. Jan. 30, 2026).
Reason to believe there’s a gun on the car with a felon is probable cause. State v. Rogers, 2026 Mo. LEXIS 31 (Feb. 3, 2026).*
The traffic stop was objectively reasonable, albeit pretextual for drugs. United States v. Harbach, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21903 (N.D. Iowa Feb. 3, 2026).*
There was a substantial basis for finding probable cause for the warrant here, and staleness didn’t apply because it was shown to be an ongoing drug operation. United States v. Brown, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22135 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 3, 2026).*
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Running defendant’s name after lawfully asking for ID led to a warrant, and it was all reasonable. State v. Fish, 2026 MT 12 (Feb. 3, 2026)*:
At no point during his interaction with Fish did Deputy Kammerzell breach the Fourth Amendment’s or Article II, Section 11’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. Deputy Kammerzell approached Fish as a community caretaker with particularized suspicion to investigate a possible criminal trespass. Furthermore, the circumstances necessitated that Deputy Kammerzell document Fish’s identity to check whether he had been previously evicted, and to document the notice in case Fish came back to Windiggers [a bar] after his privilege to be on the premises was revoked. Once dispatch informed Deputy Kammerzell of the warrant, further particularized suspicion arose justifying the prolonged seizure of Fish until dispatch was able to confirm its existence.
Alleged sexual assault during a citizen ride along in a police car stated a Fourth Amendment claim. Hess v. Garcia, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22018 (N.D. Ind. Feb. 3, 2026).
“Based on our precedent involving the use of pepper spray, we agree that Officer Irvine’s conduct was neither objectively unreasonable nor excessive.” Diehl v. United States, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3387 (11th Cir. Feb. 3, 2026).*
Plaintiff did not plausibly allege a Fourth Amendment violation because there was a basis for his stop and inventory of his car. Harris v. City of Bloomington, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3394 (7th Cir. Feb. 3, 2026).*
Under Wallace, plaintiff’s pretrial Fourth Amendment claims against state charges are stayed. Scott v. St. Charles Par., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21773 (E.D. La. Feb. 3, 2026).*
Posted in§ 1983 / Bivens, Pretext, Seizure|Comments Off on N.D.Ind.: Alleged sexual assault during citizen ride along stated 4A claim
The MV’s grandmother suspected defendant was molesting her granddaughter. She placed a video camera in the living room. It was obvious with a red light on it, and there was a sign that a camera was in use. He moved to suppress under state law that this was a recording in a private place. As to him, this was not a private place where he had no reasonable expectation of privacy. “Generally a visitor has no expectation of privacy in the common area of someone else’s home.” Pamplin v. State, 2026 Ga. App. LEXIS 60 (Feb. 3, 2026).
Neither the exclusionary rule nor a harassment exception applies to supervised release. United States v. Velazquez, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21748 (D. Utah Feb. 2, 2026).*
There was probable cause for the stop itself and then reasonable suspicion for a protective sweep under the seat of the car. United States v. Valentin, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21851 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 3, 2026).*
CNS: House Democrats demand DHS scrap memo allowing warrantless entry of homes by Benjamin S. Weiss (“House Democrats demanded the Department of Homeland Security rescind a controversial directive allowing federal immigration agents to forcibly enter people’s homes without a signed warrant from a judge, following the leak of a memorandum detailing the agency’s broad assertion of law enforcement authority. Lawmakers say the memo took ‘a battering ram’ to the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure — and pushed back on the Trump administration’s claims that non-U.S. citizens are not subject to those rights.”)
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Defendant was reported for video voyeurism of his stepdaughter in the bathroom, and police got his phone, telling him they were seizing it. Then they got a warrant. The potential for destruction of evidence was sufficient justification for a warrantless seizure. State v. Smith, 2026 Ida. LEXIS 20 (Feb. 3, 2026).
Defendant’s Franks challenge fails for lack of materiality or that it was a reasonable mistake at worst. All things considered, he couldn’t win on the merits of a suppression motion. United States v. Robinson, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21508 (E.D. Ky. Jan. 26, 2026).*
After a dog alert on his cell, plaintiff was subjected to a strip search, body cavity search, and body scan, and all this was reasonable. His strip search in front of other inmates wasn’t unreasonable. Sainiak v. Newberry, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21614 (M.D. Pa. Feb. 3, 2026).*
NPR: ICE can’t make warrantless arrests in Oregon unless there’s risk of escape, judge rules via AP (“U.S. immigration agents in Oregon must stop arresting people without warrants unless there’s a likelihood of escape, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a preliminary injunction in a proposed class-action lawsuit targeting the Department of Homeland Security’s practice of arresting immigrants they happen to come across while conducting ramped-up enforcement operations — which critics have described as ‘arrest first, justify later.’ … Similar actions, including immigration agents entering private property without a warrant issued by a court, have drawn concern from civil rights groups across the country amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts. Courts in Colorado and Washington, D.C., have issued rulings like Kasubhai’s, and the government has appealed them.”)
Posted inImmigration arrests|Comments Off on NPR & AP: ICE can’t make warrantless arrests in Oregon unless there’s risk of escape, judge rules
Defendant was detained for DUI, but he had medical issues and police wanted to release him to home under a “medical furlough.” He consented to an inspection of his house and weapons were found. He was never in custody, and there were no conditions on the inspection. United States v. Shobert, 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 3350 (10th Cir. Feb. 3, 2026).*
This involved a valid investigatory stop and thus the officers were shielded from liability under Louisiana law. Huddleston v. Constantine, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21588 (W.D. La. Feb. 2, 2026).*
Qualified immunity for NYPD officers fails because the bodycam videos are ambiguous and don’t fully support their position. Novak v. City of N.Y., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21521 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 2, 2026).*
Taking this inmate’s personal phone book in a prison cell search doesn’t state a claim. Payne v. White, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21418 (S.D. Ill. Feb. 2, 2026).*
Defense counsel’s motion to suppress coming during trial at the end of the officer’s testimony wasn’t timely. Brown v. State, 2026 Tex. App. LEXIS 1014 (Tex. App. – Houston (1st Dist.) Feb. 3, 2026)* (unpublished).
An automobile exception search can occur at the time of the stop or later. United States v. Douglas, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20987 (D. Vt. Feb. 2, 2026).*
Officers did a protective sweep of an apartment after it was shot up, and a M4 magazine was lawfully seen. State v. Hamilton, 2026 Wash. App. LEXIS 177 (Feb. 2, 2026)* (unpublished).
Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a water bottle from which DNA was taken left in an interrogation room. United States v. Williams, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20791 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 1, 2026).*
WaPo: Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon by John Woodrow Cox (“In October, a retiree emailed a DHS attorney to urge mercy for an asylum seeker. Then DHS subpoenaed his Google account and sent investigators to his home.”) Five hours after he sent the email came the subpoena.
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"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.
