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SCOTUS: Cell Phone Searches Warrant Warrant
June 26, 2014
The Supreme Court's been busy. Yesterday, it unanimously ruled in Riley v. California that a cell phone search necessitates a warrant—the first time the Court addressed modern technology in the context of the Fourth Amendment. Arent Fox's former litigation head Jay Hulme, who worked on an amicus brief for the winning side (some of whose arguments showed up in the Court's opinion), tells us it's a "watershed case." It's the first time the Nine didn't give the police carte blanche to search whatever a person is carrying when her or she is arrested. The fact that it was unanimous, he adds, also means the government has less chance of whittling it away, as we've seen happen with decisions like Miranda.
