Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social
Professor, Stanford Law School.
Author, The Digital 4th Amendment:
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Fourth-Amendment-Privacy-Policing/dp/0190627077/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
Author, The Digital 4th Amendment:
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Fourth-Amendment-Privacy-Policing/dp/0190627077/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
Back in the 1950s, law schools apparently received inquiries (from potential applicants, I assume?) that sometimes included a lot of questions. Here, Dean Prosser of UC Berkeley imagines a reply.
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
November 9, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Back in the 1950s, law schools apparently received inquiries (from potential applicants, I assume?) that sometimes included a lot of questions. Here, Dean Prosser of UC Berkeley imagines a reply.
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...
State Dept of Revenue issues warrant to search for and seize any property of value of suspect for failure to pay taxes on profits from selling meth. Searching her residence, officers find meth.
NC Court of Appeals: Can't get a warrant for this under the 4A. Meth suppressed.
NC Court of Appeals: Can't get a warrant for this under the 4A. Meth suppressed.
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
State Dept of Revenue issues warrant to search for and seize any property of value of suspect for failure to pay taxes on profits from selling meth. Searching her residence, officers find meth.
NC Court of Appeals: Can't get a warrant for this under the 4A. Meth suppressed.
NC Court of Appeals: Can't get a warrant for this under the 4A. Meth suppressed.
Officers try to shoot hostage taker, accidentally shoot and kill hostage. This did not "seize" the hostage under Torres v. Madrid, CA9 rules, as the intent to restrain was lacking; they were trying to free the hostage, not restrain him.
November 9, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Officers try to shoot hostage taker, accidentally shoot and kill hostage. This did not "seize" the hostage under Torres v. Madrid, CA9 rules, as the intent to restrain was lacking; they were trying to free the hostage, not restrain him.
Here's a law professor lamenting the fads in legal theory popular among law professors that become popular for a decade or two and then fade away— written in 1950. Specifically, it's Roscoe Pound, reflecting on trends since he became a lawyer in 1890.
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
November 9, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Here's a law professor lamenting the fads in legal theory popular among law professors that become popular for a decade or two and then fade away— written in 1950. Specifically, it's Roscoe Pound, reflecting on trends since he became a lawyer in 1890.
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
I agree with Paul Horwitz on this: Although I greatly value respect when dissenting, it seems silly to care whether there's an included statement describing one's own dissent as respectful. It's like a law review article that describes its claims as novel; that's not up to the author to decide.
November 4, 2025 at 11:12 PM
I agree with Paul Horwitz on this: Although I greatly value respect when dissenting, it seems silly to care whether there's an included statement describing one's own dissent as respectful. It's like a law review article that describes its claims as novel; that's not up to the author to decide.
Avoiding the larger split on whether the Takings Clause applies to law enforcement damage to property, CA9 holds that at least there's no taking when officers act reasonably in the necessary defense of public safety.
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
November 4, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Avoiding the larger split on whether the Takings Clause applies to law enforcement damage to property, CA9 holds that at least there's no taking when officers act reasonably in the necessary defense of public safety.
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
Interesting opinions from Judge Bumatay and Judge VanDyke, dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc, on criminal prosecutions for violating agency regulations—and what the limits there are for such prosecutions under the nondelegation doctrine.
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
November 4, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Interesting opinions from Judge Bumatay and Judge VanDyke, dissenting from denial of rehearing en banc, on criminal prosecutions for violating agency regulations—and what the limits there are for such prosecutions under the nondelegation doctrine.
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
For writing on note pads, I've long liked notepads with the vertical line a few inches from the left side. TIL this is called "Pitman Ruled" paper, as it was created for use with a shorthand system created by Isaac Pitman in 1837.
November 4, 2025 at 2:33 AM
For writing on note pads, I've long liked notepads with the vertical line a few inches from the left side. TIL this is called "Pitman Ruled" paper, as it was created for use with a shorthand system created by Isaac Pitman in 1837.
Tweeting at X and Bluesky are so similar you even get the same joke responses.
November 2, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Tweeting at X and Bluesky are so similar you even get the same joke responses.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals— the state's highest court for criminal cases—rules that drug detection dog's unprompted entry of his nose into suspect's car through open window was a Fourth Amendment search.
search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia....
search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia....
November 2, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals— the state's highest court for criminal cases—rules that drug detection dog's unprompted entry of his nose into suspect's car through open window was a Fourth Amendment search.
search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia....
search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia....
The beginning of the main text.
October 29, 2025 at 8:37 PM
The beginning of the main text.
In 1997, the Michigan Law Review published a parody of bad post-modern legal writing.
It was 231 pages long.
repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcont...
It was 231 pages long.
repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcont...
October 29, 2025 at 8:34 PM
In 1997, the Michigan Law Review published a parody of bad post-modern legal writing.
It was 231 pages long.
repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcont...
It was 231 pages long.
repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcont...
I will concede that a nearly 5-hour Wagner opera can be something of an acquired taste. Still, what a magnificent performance of Parsifal at the San Francisco Opera tonight.
October 29, 2025 at 6:09 AM
I will concede that a nearly 5-hour Wagner opera can be something of an acquired taste. Still, what a magnificent performance of Parsifal at the San Francisco Opera tonight.
My article arguing that DOJ's position is incorrect is here: scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcont...
October 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
My article arguing that DOJ's position is incorrect is here: scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcont...
DOJ continues to argue that Terms of Service of Internet accounts can eliminate 4th Amendment rights online—here, in a pending 7th Circuit case involving a Dropbox acount. United States v. Blocker, No. 25-1536.
October 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
DOJ continues to argue that Terms of Service of Internet accounts can eliminate 4th Amendment rights online—here, in a pending 7th Circuit case involving a Dropbox acount. United States v. Blocker, No. 25-1536.
CA10: Officer's lifting a bus passenger's bag and holding it up for 30 seconds to see if it's unusually heavy and if it has unusual odors is not a "search." Squeezing is a search per Bond, but lifting isn't. (Q: How is that squared with AZ v. Hicks?)
ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/f... #N
ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/f... #N
October 23, 2025 at 10:20 PM
CA10: Officer's lifting a bus passenger's bag and holding it up for 30 seconds to see if it's unusually heavy and if it has unusual odors is not a "search." Squeezing is a search per Bond, but lifting isn't. (Q: How is that squared with AZ v. Hicks?)
ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/f... #N
ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/f... #N
Today's announced indictment for rigging poker games reminds me of the old caselaw on theft liability for rigging card games I discussed in my 2008 article, "Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds."
chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcont...
chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcont...
October 23, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Today's announced indictment for rigging poker games reminds me of the old caselaw on theft liability for rigging card games I discussed in my 2008 article, "Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds."
chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcont...
chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcont...
During a traffic stop, the officer could ask questions unrelated to the stop while the driver was looking for his insurance: The questions didn't add to the duration of the stop under Rodriguez, even if the driver paused a long time before answering. media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unp...
October 20, 2025 at 6:59 PM
During a traffic stop, the officer could ask questions unrelated to the stop while the driver was looking for his insurance: The questions didn't add to the duration of the stop under Rodriguez, even if the driver paused a long time before answering. media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unp...
Really interesting, from TT Arvind and Christian Burset.
academic.oup.com/ojls/article...
academic.oup.com/ojls/article...
October 18, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Really interesting, from TT Arvind and Christian Burset.
academic.oup.com/ojls/article...
academic.oup.com/ojls/article...
No QI for officers who knocked and announced their presence, saw resident open back door in response, and entered. It was clearly established that opening the door itself was not consent (here, resident was hard of hearing & thought it was his son returning).
media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
October 17, 2025 at 12:23 AM
No QI for officers who knocked and announced their presence, saw resident open back door in response, and entered. It was clearly established that opening the door itself was not consent (here, resident was hard of hearing & thought it was his son returning).
media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...
Virginia Court of Appeals: Querying city ALPR database to learn where suspect's car was driving was not a 4A "search." This was limited information, unlike in Carpenter.
www.vacourts.gov/static/opini...
www.vacourts.gov/static/opini...
October 15, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Virginia Court of Appeals: Querying city ALPR database to learn where suspect's car was driving was not a 4A "search." This was limited information, unlike in Carpenter.
www.vacourts.gov/static/opini...
www.vacourts.gov/static/opini...