California Allowed To Seize Phones Without Warrants
January 6, 2011
California officials are now allowed to dig through someone’s mobile phone contents without a warrant. The California Supreme Court made this decision based on a Fourth Amendment case.
In 2007, Gregory Diaz was arrested for trying to sell ecstasy to a police informant. At the time, Diaz’s phone was confiscated and the police searched the phone’s text messages. This information was eventually used against the defendant.
Diaz claimed that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated since the police did not have a warrant to take his phone.
The California Supreme Court eventually took the case. In the end, the majority of the court ruled Diaz’s rights were not violated.
According to Ars Technica:
In its review of the case, the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment didn't apply to the text messages on Diaz's cell phone at the time of arrest. The court cited a number of previous cases wherein defendants were arrested with all manner of incriminating objects—heroin tablets hidden in a cigarette case, paint chips hidden in clothing, marijuana in the trunk of a car—which did not require a warrant to obtain. The court said that the phone was "immediately associated" with Diaz's person, and therefore the warrantless search was valid.States have gone back and forth over this topic. So far, the U.S. Supreme Court has not made a decision on this issue. For now, states alone are making these decisions. In California, it looks like privacy has taken a back seat. Beware what is on your iPhone, it could be used against you. What do you think? Did the California Supreme Court go too far? Leave your comments below.
