Warrants needed for cellphone searches, Supreme Court rules

June 25, 2014

Police cannot generally search cellphones without a warrant when they are arresting someone, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision Wednesday that weighs heavily in favor of Fourth Amendment and privacy rights. Cellphones are not the same as other physical objects, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion. “One of the most notable distinguishing features of modern cell phones is their immense storage capacity,” he wrote. “Before cell phones, a search of a person was limited by physical realities and tended as a general matter to constitute only a narrow intrusion on privacy. ... Most people cannot lug around every piece of mail they have received for the past several months, every picture they have taken, or every book or article they have read—nor would they have any reason to attempt to do so.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2367960/warrants-needed-for-cellphone-searches-supreme-court-rules.html#tk.rss_all