Search & Seizure Update

For the past decade, the Oregon Federal Public Defender has published an outline of federal search and seizure cases from a defense perspective. We set out the general state of the law and, through counterpoints to the cases restricting Fourth Amendment rights, keep track of cases in which defendants have succeeded in suppressing evidence based on creative use of facts and law. The point of the outline is to provide a starting place for research, a repository for cases that frequently are useful, and an optimistic approach to Fourth Amendment issues. The most recent update, prepared for the Las Vegas office’s CJA meeting last week, is available here.

Steve Sady, Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender, Portland, Oregon