Supreme Court Will Decide If Cops Need A Warrant To Search Your Cell Phone When Under Arrest

[bobandtorey]

The Fourth Amendment is at the center of two cases which the Supreme Court will hear today regarding the reach of police powers when you are under arrest.  The cases, Riley v. California and United States v. Wurie, both involve whether cops can search your cellphone when you are under arrest, or if they need a separate warrant to do so.  The Court’s ruling is bound to have a profound impact on the way people deal with police.

The police do not need a warrant to search an individual they have arrested.  This includes both their physical person and the possessions of the arrestee, including any bags, containers or any other items they were carrying.  Police may also conduct a warrantless search of the immediate vicinity around where the individual was arrested in order to prevent the destruction of and/or to recover any evidence or weapons.

Cellphones, however, complicate this issue.  Cellphones contain vast amounts of detailed personal information, including texts, contact numbers, recent calls, pictures, voicemails, even gps location data among others.  The information on the phone goes much further back than the incident that an individual is arrested for, and could lead to the discovery of wrong doing in the past.  For example, should an individual detained for jay walking be forced to hand over their phone for examination by police without probable cause?

The cases being heard in the Supreme court go to the core of the Fourth Amendment, which protects not only “the right of the people” to be free from “unreasonable searches and seizures;” it requires the government to show “probable cause” and to describe “the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized” before a warrant will be issued. That language was added to the Constitution with the colonial era practice of issuing “general warrants” fresh in mind.  General warrants were blank checks cited by snooping British officials. Warrantless cellphone searches, which give police a detailed look into almost every aspect of our private lives, seem to me the modern day equivalent of the justly banished “general warrant.”

Since 9/11 and the War on Terror sent shock waves through not only America, but the entire world, citizens have been willing to sacrifice more of their freedoms in order to feel safer.  But if we give police unlimited power, who are we going to fear more?  We’ll see how the Supreme Court Rules in these cases.

 

http://komornlaw.com/komornlawblog/supreme-court-will-decide-if-cops-need-a-warrant-to-search-your-cell-phone-when-under-arrest/

[Spartyon]

Will a pattern or numeric lock stop them?

[bobandtorey]

You may have something there i would always make sure your phone needs a pass code to turn it on  that may help someone if you get pulled over on a road side stop but not in court

[ilynnboy]

My phone erases All Info when the pass code is entered incorrectly 10 times.

Always set your pass code, always!

Let them try and open it.

Bingo Blank Phone..

Can You say warrant less search for nothing!