Yet
another big issue in the news right now is whether or not police have the right
to search a persons’ cell phone without a warrant when they arrest someone.
This addresses our Fourth Amendment right as US citizens as provided in the
Constitution. For those not familiar, the Fourth Amendment guarantees citizens
from unreasonable searches and seizures and states there must be probable
cause. This means police must have a warrant to search a person’s house (or
even to enter the house to arrest a person), warrants are needed to search
specific places or objects, such as a vehicle or computer, and often this must
be separate from the warrant to enter the house.
Cell
phones these days are primarily “smart” phones, meaning they are not just a
phone, but a source of photographs, messages, emails, and web access. A person
may also use their computer for these same purposes. If a warrant is needed to
search someone’s computer, why would one not be needed to search their cell
phone? Well, that is because as it stands currently, anything in the possession
of a person at the time of their arrest can be searched. This forty-yearprecedent means the arresting officers can search pockets, wallets, and, now, cell phones
on a person at the time of arrest.
The
US Supreme Court is currently addressing this case. The justices hold
conflicting views at this time. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor has been reported to
have said, part of the discussion includes photographs and wallets and cell
phones hold a great difference in the number of photographs. A person cannot
put 2,000 photographs in their wallet, but their cell phone can hold that many.
This means that which is in a cell phone could likely be more incriminating
than that which would be in a wallet. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg basically
says it is a slippery slope to allow the search of a cell phone without a
warrant, as police could choose to search cell phones when they arrest someone
on a small violation, such as a traffic violation, when it doesn’t make sense
to search it.
My
stance on this issue is that cell phones should not be allowed to be searched
without a warrant as they now are closer to computers than phones. I mean,
let’s be honest, most people I know use their phone’s smart features more than
they do as a telephone. This is why cell phone companies are now offering
unlimited talk and text but charging outrageous amounts for data. That is where
primary cell phone usage is. I agree with Justice Ginsberg that allowing warrantless
searches is a slippery slope. If I get stopped for speeding, for instance, a
police officer has no right to search my cell phone. Some police officers can
be very shady, it is these officers we need protected against.
A few articles/links about this:
- http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/55067307/#55067307
- http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/04/supreme-court-justices-struggle-with-issue-of-cell-phone-searches/
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