Collect Call with Lawstache

The Second Amendment is not a “second class right.” No longer can courts balance away a constitutional right. After Bruen, the Government must prove that laws regulating conduct covered by the Second…

Every week, host Anton Vialtsin (California attorney and YouTuber) discusses legal cases from the Supreme Court, 9th Circuit, and California State Courts. We focus on the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth…

Until recently, federal courts uniformly applied at least intermediate scrutiny to firearms laws and conducted a means-end analysis to determine whether the state’s interest in the regulation was suf…

Federal law prohibits certain people from possessing firearms. 18 U.S.C.
§ 922(g). Among them are convicted felons, fugitives from justice, and—relevant here—anyone “who is an unlawful user of or addi…

The "single-purpose container" exception to the warrant requirement originated in the United States Supreme Court's decision in Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753, 99 S.Ct. 2586, 61 L.Ed.2d 235 (1979)…

Although parents may choose to grant their minor children joint access and mutual use of the home, parents normally retain control of the home as well as the power to rescind the authority they have …

Yuen contends, inter alia, that Officer Kline's opening the rear cargo door without his permission violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and, therefore, all evidence the go…

Defendant Hall was arrested at approximately 2:30 p.m. on May 14, 2008 after he exited a house trailer at 2233 East 8th Street, Lot 340, Pueblo, Colorado. Agents had an active arrest warrant and ther…

In this case, a highway patrol officer announced he was going to search a suspect's backpack. That search would have violated the Fourth Amendment, because the officer did not have a warrant to searc…

As mentioned at the outset, the dialogue between Ruffin and Howard on the side of the road had a certain unreality to it. A number of times, Ruffin seemed to go out of his way to tell Howard that he …

Search Incident to Arrest

A search incident to a lawful arrest is an exception to the general rule that warrantless searches violate the Fourth Amendment. The exception allows a police officer making …

Early one October morning, defendant Isaiah Hendrix walked up to a house in **281 Oxnard, knocked on the door, and rang the doorbell. Hearing no response, Hendrix walked around the house to the backy…

Wilke contends that the district court erred by denying him the adjustment solely because of the time and money the Government spent before and at trial. According to Wilke, § 3.E1.1(a) of the Guidel…

In a per curiam opinion, the panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Sergio Guerrero’s motion to suppress because of the consistent conclusions of Judge Gould and Judge Bea, which represent a m…

The Fourth Amendment specifically requires a warrant to include a description of the “place to be searched.” The police officers here—at first—complied with that requirement, obtaining a warrant that…

The purpose behind the decision to impound is crucial because of the reason for condoning inventory searches of impounded cars. "In the interests  of public safety and as part of what the Court has c…

The Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures extends to the brief investigatory stop of a vehicle. United States v. Brignoni–Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 878, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 2578–…

Following a traffic stop, officers searched Brandon Lance Lee's car without a warrant and discovered 56 grams of cocaine, a firearm, and other items associated with selling narcotics. After Lee was c…

The Fourth Amendment guards “against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const. amend. IV. To challenge the legality of a search under the Fourth Amendment, a criminal defendant must prove that…

Penal Code section 16470 defines a dirk or dagger as "a knife or other instrument with or without a handguard that is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or…