Slashdot Mirror
Fed. Appeals Court Says Police Need Warrant to Search Phone
An anonymous reader writes "In a decision that's almost certainly going to result in this issue heading up to the Supreme Court, the Federal 1st Circuit Court of Appeals [Friday] ruled that police can't search your phone when they arrest you without a warrant. That's contrary to most courts' previous findings in these kinds of cases where judges have allowed warrantless searches through cell phones." (But in line with the recently mentioned decision in Florida, and seemingly with common sense.)
Just stop committing all those crimes, you wicked cellphone wielding people!
Seems like it will continue - despite any ruling. Look at the overall indicators and trend, not just one specific ruling or data point.
Those cool, adventurous science-fiction dystopias in Bladerunner and the like. Well, they aren't so cool for most people to live in. They certainly aren't cool for the people who witness the transitions - from the 70s to post 2001...
It's a long way from the top, now. And we didn't tie a rope to climbe back.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Really, for once the court seems to have a backbone. (Only once?)
It of course makes no sense that you can have a pile of papers and "edible looking items" in your car, and those are protected, but then there's your phone over there in the corner, "yay, it's electronic so the consitution doesn't apply!"
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
From a casual reading (by a non-lawyer) of the constitution, this makes perfect sense.
This thing about "we can go through all your possessions if we somehow get our hands on it" is ludicrous, and the "if we can pick the lock or break it open we can rummage around inside" thing is stupider still. If I lock my data but the police manage to break the encryption method they can rummage around in the data? Does this work for the locks on my house? The dial on my safe?
The simple search looking for weapons thing "to protect the officer" was an exception, but they've taken it beyond extreme rights violations.
If you see someone committing a crime, arrest them. If you can't convict them without the data on their cell phone, you shouldn't have arrested them in the first place.
Oh, and if someone parrots "how can we do our jobs if we don't have the tools" nonsense, remind them that we're currently enjoying the lowest crime rate in several decades.
Courts are seeing that the cell phone contains far more private info than would normally be found in someones pockets. On the surface a cell phone would be open season without a pin code, but if you delve deeper it's more like you're carrying your filing cabinet with you at all times and should be treated as such.
All these exemptions to the constitution were instituted as exceptions to aid the war on drugs. The real enemy is the war on drugs and prohibition 2.0 should be abolished.
That might be the most worrying thing, it actually makes sense! Sure to be overturned on appeal!
Have a look who made that ruling. Then come back and tell us who would overturn this.
Records are one thing, (and the Justice Department had a warrant), but your secret stuff in your phone is quite another.
You expect your phone records to be less protected, because you entrust them to a phone company.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Because that is the trend. Courts are fighting back against creeping totalitarianism.
And obtaining a warrant is not that big of a deal.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Gestapo? You can bitch all you want but at least have the intelligence to realize comparisons of this type undermine the true horrors and injustices perpetrated by the Gestapo. If you really think the US government is acting like the Gestapo then most people think life was really not all that bad in Germany during WW2. If Home Land Security or any other law enforcement agencies acted like the Gestapo you would most likely be dead or in prison for publishing your opinion on the matter. Totalitarian systems have a way of silencing all criticism of the government without the need for a justice or court system at all. If a state keeps killing their citizens out of hand sooner or later the citizenry will stop complaining about their government becuase of fear. Look to N. Korea as a fine example. Problems in the US government are on the front page of every news outlet in the US and the world for all to see. Even all the hyperventilating over the Patriot act is idiotic since no US citizen has been convicted of violating any of the Patriot Act dictates. Courts routinely dismiss charges against people due to violations of there civil rights. Every time the government has arrested someone for Patriot Act violations the court has ruled against the Patriot Act and dismissed all charges. Look it up. Not a single item in the Bill of Rights has been taking away from anyone. Anyone charged with a crime gets the chance to argue civil rights abuse during their arrest. The executive and legislative branches of government can propose and create laws but the judicial branch has the power to judge whether or not the law infringes on someones rights.