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The Supreme Court is about to rule on two cases involving police using an arrested person's cell phone to obtain evidence to be used against the person in court.
In one case, the cops arrested a guy who appeared to be selling drugs from his car. They arrested him and looked through his cell phone and found his home phone #. They went to his home and found drugs, cash, and guns.
In another case, which happened here in San Diego, a guy was stopped by the cops for a burned out tail light (or something as insignificant). They searched the car and found two guns. They then searched his cell phone and found pictures and other evidence that tied him to a violent gang murder.
Both the convicted men appealed all the way to the Supreme Court that searching their cell phones violated their Fourth Amendment rights, that their phones were essentially their person, houses, papers, and/or effects. These were searched without a warrant.
I think it's an interesting question. Past cases that resemble these two would allow the cops to look through someone's phone without warrant. These rulings are the basis for the lower courts' rulings against the two.
However, given the nature of how mobile phones have evolved, it's clear that phones do contain peoples' virtual personas, important papers, and are a person's private effects. Or at least that is the argument that is why the Court is going to hear the cases.
The Obama Administration argues for the police - that they should be able to look through a phone's data without a warrant.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ourt-to-allow-warrantless-cellphone-searches/
It seems Justice Scalia is opposed, based upon a string of his recent decisions and dissents (all in favor of civil liberties).
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-court-cellphone-20140428,0,5654472.story#axzz30HTN7Knu
My view... As bad as these two guys are, and they do belong in jail, they are entitled to due process. That phones have builtin protections (pin codes, etc.) to protect privacy is an expectation of privacy. That a person's right against unreasonable searches extend to paperless documents and ones that are located outside a person's residence. The cops should get a warrant, specific to the exact thing they are searching the phone for.
So what do you think?
In one case, the cops arrested a guy who appeared to be selling drugs from his car. They arrested him and looked through his cell phone and found his home phone #. They went to his home and found drugs, cash, and guns.
In another case, which happened here in San Diego, a guy was stopped by the cops for a burned out tail light (or something as insignificant). They searched the car and found two guns. They then searched his cell phone and found pictures and other evidence that tied him to a violent gang murder.
Both the convicted men appealed all the way to the Supreme Court that searching their cell phones violated their Fourth Amendment rights, that their phones were essentially their person, houses, papers, and/or effects. These were searched without a warrant.
I think it's an interesting question. Past cases that resemble these two would allow the cops to look through someone's phone without warrant. These rulings are the basis for the lower courts' rulings against the two.
However, given the nature of how mobile phones have evolved, it's clear that phones do contain peoples' virtual personas, important papers, and are a person's private effects. Or at least that is the argument that is why the Court is going to hear the cases.
The Obama Administration argues for the police - that they should be able to look through a phone's data without a warrant.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ourt-to-allow-warrantless-cellphone-searches/
It seems Justice Scalia is opposed, based upon a string of his recent decisions and dissents (all in favor of civil liberties).
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-court-cellphone-20140428,0,5654472.story#axzz30HTN7Knu
My view... As bad as these two guys are, and they do belong in jail, they are entitled to due process. That phones have builtin protections (pin codes, etc.) to protect privacy is an expectation of privacy. That a person's right against unreasonable searches extend to paperless documents and ones that are located outside a person's residence. The cops should get a warrant, specific to the exact thing they are searching the phone for.
So what do you think?
