Print
California's highest court leaned on old U.S. Supreme Court cases to rule that police can confiscate a cell phone from a suspect right after he's arrested and sift through text messages looking for evidence, and do so without first obtaining a warrant, the Ventura County Star reports.
The ruling came as part of a Fourth Amendment decision involving the 2007 arrest of a Thousand Oaks man who wound up arrested after buying ecstasy from a police informant. Text messages on the suspect's cell phone implicated him of the crime.
Jay Leiderman, the criminal lawyer who represented the suspect, described the decision as "weak" and "scary" because it cited older U.S. Supreme Court cases that don't have anything to do with today's technology.
"This type of thing opens up the doors for Big Brother to come flying in," he said.
The decision relied on a pair of cases from the early 1970s, one which involved the search of a suspect's clothing and another involving the search of small physical containers, like a crumpled cigarette package.
Comments are closed on this article
zodi
January 06, 2011 at 1:58pm
I guess if there is probable cause this would be ok. IE pulled over and your large bag of weed is on the seat with a nice purple halo of smoke emitting from the car.
However, like someone said get pulled over, lock your cell phone, and make sure its passworded. After all, that purple haze might make you forget the password.
sotoa
January 05, 2011 at 1:49pm
Go through my texts, my email, my calendar, my contacts? You kidding me? I keep my phone locked. Get a warrant, and then we'll talk.
richeemxx
January 05, 2011 at 1:03pm
This really has less to do with Ca and more to do with antiquated U.S. Supreme Court rulings. The California courts just extended two previous rulings that had to do with searching items and articles of clothing on suspects that were already under arest and upheld the rulings.
What we really need is to get rid of these old sitting judges and politicians that know absolutely nothing at all about technology and replace them with ppl that are in touch with the times.
Tenhawk
January 05, 2011 at 11:33am
Ok, yeah the concept seems scary on the surface... but look closer. They have the right to check your phone AFTER arresting you. Don't they have the right to pull junk out of your pockets and, say, leaf through a notebook you're carrying then?
This is kinda why drug dealers used to write in code, right? So cops wouldn't get jack when they were, inevitably, hauled in on one charge or another...
I would like to see some checks and balances involved, specifically floating around what they can do with the evidence in the phone if it's unrelated to the charge you're arrested on... particularly if the arresting charge is thrown out or otherwise found to be bogus. But other than that I don't see what the issue is...
It's a stupid law, sure... mostly cause anyone who has seriously compromising info on their phone will likely protect it... but most laws are stupid, pointless, and a waste of time anyway, so this certainly isn't special in that regard. The most it's going to do is cull the herd of the stupid criminals and leave the smarter ones on the streets... evolution in action, like most stupid laws.
Nimrod
January 05, 2011 at 6:03pm
When people like you dont know their rights people like me LOSE THEIRS. If I have a 5th amdend right it should apply to my phone as well. And even then they can GET A WARRENT IF THEY NEED IT.
BlackBird71
January 05, 2011 at 2:13pm
I wonder if they can check your email off your phone legally now or if its content on the phone not in the cloud
ShyLinuxGuy
January 05, 2011 at 11:01am
California, and the West Coast states in general, play by their own rules, not the general law of the land (the rest of the United States and its Constitution).They think rules and laws don't apply to them, as it's legislators are comprised of pot-smoking, liberalized bankrupt real estate moguls looking for an easy job, sitting around, dreaming up unrealistic ideas to make into laws that Russia might not even have (think I've said that before, but it's true).
If the plaintiff who was involved in this situation decided to tattle on California and have the case elevated, I'm sure the Supreme Court would update its finding.
I do not agree with the actions of the individual who had his cell phone confiscated (consuming ecstasy) whatsoever (I believe in tougher drug laws), but this issue could grow into even innocent citizens having their phones confiscated, and maybe even their computers and other electronic devices, if law enforcement in California wishes to do so, at any given time for any reason. A modern cell phone can be considered a computer or information technology device if you really think about it, and so computer spying laws could technically cover instances like this.
Zazubovich
January 05, 2011 at 3:35pm
so much for government by, of and for the people.
Let the government have access to your personal papers and you will be made into the criminal they need to solve whatever problems they have. It is a rule of bureaucracy and the first law of policing-the closest, darkest skinned guy near the crime scene is the guilty one. Throw the fourth amendment out even further, and using digital technology they will manufacture whatever evidence they need to incriminate, incarcerate, and bury you in the hole.
Looking at the other comments it sure seems that the sheep are ready to be marched into their pens.
jlh304
January 05, 2011 at 10:55am
I remember a news story about either crossing the boarder or getting on an airplane. Anyway they said then that police could look through your laptop. The catch was if you password protected it you where under no obligation to give them the password (as that would require a court order). Although I'm not sure what happens to your laptop if you say no. But I guess you should password protect your phone like everything else.
jgrimoldy
January 05, 2011 at 10:40am
Okay, this is rather scary in principle, but what if your phone is password protected? They can ask you for the password all they want... no need to give up the goods...
"Sorry, officer, with all of this stress, I can't remember the password..."
N3RDx1000
January 05, 2011 at 4:26pm
That might just get you in more trouble as I believe lying to a police officer actually is illegal. Instead you can invoke your miranda rights by simply shutting the hell up. Don't get smug and lecture them on your constitutional rights, don't say you forgot your password, simply don't say anything at all. The second you open your mouth you start playing their game and YOU WILL LOSE because they cheat.
icebird
January 05, 2011 at 10:02am
Well they can search your pockets without a warrant. This is not much different from finding a piece of paper in the suspect's pocket with damning evidence. The line starts to blur though when you have a smartphone with internet access where they could easily peek into your email, facebook or other personal applications.
BlackBird71
January 05, 2011 at 8:59am
How is this legal your phone is your property its like searching my house without a warrant. I think we need some tech smart Judges in this country.
N3RDx1000
January 05, 2011 at 4:31pm
In this instance it may be more like police searching your house because they saw you hitting a crack pipe through your window. Or searching your pockets after they arrested you. Not everything requires a warrent.
