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Should the Police be able to search your cell phone without a warrant?

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  • Lastexan
    2014-04-30 07:23:30 PM
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    With the advent of smart phones the cell phone has become so much more than just a comms unit. Many smart phones have a greater processing capability than your home computer. We keep our lives on these things. Credit card and banking information, Medical records, GPS data, Internet movements...the list has no boundaries. If you are arrested, the police can and will search your cell phone for anything they might use against you...without a warrant. Both the first and fourth amendment are in question here. Where do we draw the line? Just how much power do we want our police to have? The US Supreme court is set to produce an opinion within the next few weeks pertaining to this issue. A brief write up about the two cases in question can be found here;

    http://http;//www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/28/supreme-court-cell-phone-arrest/8147327/
  • Zach F
    2014-04-30 07:40:16 PM
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    Police should not be able to search unless that have probable cause that it is being used as a weapon or in the commission of a crime. Like the article says:

    Suspected bomber typing on a phone: The phone is a weapon
    Bunch of drunks acting disorderly: No searching the phone

    Granted, one these situations is an extreme and the other is a far more common occurrence. The default should be no search. Though, I would argue that this is a 3rd and 4th Amendment issue (not a 1st Amendment one). Privacy and Reasonable Search and Seizure respectively. I look forward to seeing an opinion on this.

    Another issue that I would be worried about is the fact that so many phones have cameras and many people use them to record police action. I would be worried that police may confiscate phones to "search" to prevent themselves from being recorded. No matter how honest you are, no one is comfortable with someone being about to over analyze ever decision you made in a tense situation.
  • L.A. Citizen
    2014-05-01 12:26:43 PM
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    The definition of probable cause is...MORE THEN SUSPICION, LESS THEN THE ACT.... The fact finder is the judge at a motion to suppress hearing.

    The tenth cirquit court of appeals ruled that a mean on his own property, sweating next to a van provided enough probable cause for the police to enter private property and search the van he owned
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