"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/28/2014 at 16:24 • Filed to: None
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/28/2014 at 16:24 • Filed to: None | 2
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A Texas court of appeals ruled today that the phone of a person who has been arrested cannot be searched without a warrant. The court heard the case of a student who was arrested after causing a disturbance on a school bus. An officer unrelated to that arrest was informed that the student had taken a photo of another student in the bathroom at school. The officer searched the student's phone, found the photo, and the student was charged the state felony of Improper Photography. The court ruled that the 4th Amendment guarantee of "people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" applies here. The ruling only affects Texas, but the US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a similar case later this year. ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
MylesD
> ttyymmnn
02/28/2014 at 16:36 |
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Texas...who'd a thunk it?
davedave1111
> ttyymmnn
02/28/2014 at 16:36 |
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Seems a bit odd to me. If the contents of the phone were on paper that the person was carrying, it would be permissible for the police to read it, wouldn't it?
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ttyymmnn
> davedave1111
02/28/2014 at 16:37 |
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I have no idea. Maybe one of Oppo's resident legal eagles will chime in.
jariten1781
> ttyymmnn
02/28/2014 at 16:42 |
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This ruling only applies to after the person has been jailed and their phone is in custodial custody of the police. The big case going to the Supreme court covers whether they can search it during the incidence of arrest. Currently they're not allowed to search it at all if it's password protected. So lock your phones folks.
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ttyymmnn
> jariten1781
02/28/2014 at 16:43 |
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Good advice. How much do I owe you for the consultation?
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jariten1781
> davedave1111
02/28/2014 at 16:52 |
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Not a lawyer but I've been following this.
This ruling only covers what happens after a person has been arrested and their possessions have been taken to the evidence locker during booking. The analogous paper situation would be if you had files in a locked briefcase. Currently the police are not allowed to force open that briefcase while it is in evidence without a warrant as I understand it and this puts cell phones in line with that.
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davedave1111
> jariten1781
02/28/2014 at 16:53 |
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Ah, that makes some sense. Neither makes an awful lot of sense to me, but at least it's consistent between the two :)
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jariten1781
> ttyymmnn
02/28/2014 at 16:55 |
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I accept fast food, preferably Zaxby's.
samssun
> davedave1111
03/02/2014 at 01:12 |
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I'm guessing it's similar to the rules regarding "plain sight" versus needing a warrant to go digging around. And though people can be searched when arrested with probable cause, searching a phone for evidence unrelated to the arrest is probably being ruled out for the same rationale as the "if you are looking for stolen televisions, you can't look in sugar bowls" maxim:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_bow…
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samssun
> MylesD
03/02/2014 at 01:14 |
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Well, they tend to still believe in notions like limited government...so un-"progressive" right?