Warrantless cell phone searches spread throughout the United States
Think about all the data — photos, videos, text messages, calendar items, apps, call log, voice mail, and e-mail — on your cell phone right now. If you’re arrested, could the police search your cell phone? And would they need a warrant?
That depends on which state you’re in.
In California, it is legal for police to search an arrestee’s cell phone without a warrant — ever since a January decision by the California Supreme Court. California civil rights advocates are pushing back. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is supporting California Assembly Bill SB 914, which would require police in that state to get a warrant before searching an arrestee’s cell phone…
Meanwhile, in Florida, an appellate court decision upheld warrantless cell phone searches, defining the phone as a kind of “container.” This case may be considered by the Florida Supreme Court.
A similar Georgia appellate court decision upheld a warrantless search of a cell phone found in an arrestee’s car (not on her person).
In contrast, the Ohio Supreme Court has barred warrantless cell phone searches…
The pattern appears to be that around the U.S., some state and local police officers are taking the initiative to search arrestees’ cell phones. In some cases this yields information relevant to the alleged crime, which has contributed to indictments and convictions.
Only then do some of these cases wind up in appellate or state supreme courts in a process that often takes years.
If you’re concerned about police or anyone else getting into your cell phone, a basic precaution is to configure your phone’s security settings to always require a passcode or pattern to access any of the phone’s data or functions.
According to Catherine Crump of the American Civil Liberties Union, “The police can ask you to unlock the phone — which many people will do — but they almost certainly cannot compel you to unlock your phone without the involvement of a judge.”
Police are supposed to protect and serve within the definitions of law and Constitution. Snooping without oversight from a court – as gutless as many judges may be – is outside the mandate of American law and order.
Yes, this isn’t the first time that fear and whimpering leads to police-state solutions. Cops have been portable gangs used to suppress unions from organizing, people from protest and dissent. But, the eventual reaction from the people of this land is rejection of Big Brother as judge and jury on the street.
