Did You Know: Cell Phone Searches By Police Are Legal; Laws Challenged By U.S. Supreme Court

What if you were arrested for unpaid parking tickets and stripped of your smartphone? Sounds harmless, right?  Well, let’s take it one step further. What if the police had the right to invade your privacy and search through your phone?  This would really piss you off, right? YES, of course it would.

Well, did you know that the Obama administration is trying to grant police officers the right (under U.S. law) to search the cellphones of ANYONE that is arrested? No matter the crime, everyone who has a phone and is arrested will be subject to a search by authorities (even without a warrant). Luckily, however, the Supreme Court is questioning whether this is right or wrong. Several justices wonder if this goes against our privacy laws.

Currently, there are two cases that are being tried that has caused the Supreme Courts to look into cellphone searches much further. Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Anthony Kennedy both argue that the laws, which has been in place for over 40 years, should not apply because of technologies current impact on our society.

A key question in two cases argued Tuesday is whether Americans’ cellphones, with vast quantities of sensitive records, photographs and communications, are a private realm much like their homes.

“People carry their entire lives on their cellphones,” Justice Elena Kagan said.

The issue involving devices now carried by almost everyone is the latest in which the court is being asked to adapt old legal rules to 21st-century technological advances. “We are living in a new world,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said.

The court heard arguments in cases involving a drug dealer and a gang member whose convictions turned in part on evidence found on their cellphones.

Another concern is what type of crime will warrant such search. People who get arrested for a minor crime should not be subjected to their phones being scanned through.

To read more about this, click HERE.