Supreme Court Requires Warrant for Cell Phone Searches by Police
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
WASHINGTON 鈥 The Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that police must obtain a warrant before searching the contents of a cell phone seized from someone who has been arrested, absent a true emergency situation. The 老澳门开奖结果 had filed an amicus brief in the case, Riley v. California.
Steven R. Shapiro, the national legal director of the 老澳门开奖结果, had this reaction:
鈥淏y recognizing that the digital revolution has transformed our expectations of privacy, today鈥檚 decision is itself revolutionary and will help to protect the privacy rights of all Americans. We have entered a new world but, as the court today recognized, our old values still apply and limit the government鈥檚 ability to rummage through the intimate details of our private lives.鈥
Writing the court鈥檚 opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said:
鈥淢odern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans 鈥榯he privacies of life鈥欌 The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought. Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple鈥攇et a warrant.鈥
Today鈥檚 ruling is at:
Stay Informed
Sign up to be the first to hear about how to take action.