Bye Bye Freedoms, One At A Time

[Mr Lee]

Seems to me that we are losing more and more of our freedom with each passing day and while I have no problem with police having rights to search once arrested for a crime, but it is probably just a matter of time before it extends to happening when just stopped on suspicion of a crime, and it will be just a matter of time before it is monkey see, monkey do and extends to other countries and other items. The next time you're in California, you might not want to bring your cell phone with you. The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that police can search the cell phone of a person who's been arrested -- including text messages -- without obtaining a warrant, and use that data as evidence. The ruling opens up disturbing possibilities, such as broad, warrantless searches of e-mails, documents and contacts on smart phones, tablet computers, and perhaps even laptop computers, according to legal expert Mark Rasch.The ruling handed down by California's top court involves the 2007 arrest of Gregory Diaz, who purchased drugs from a police informant. Investigators later looked through Diaz's phone and found text messages that implicated him in a drug deal. Diaz appealed his conviction, saying the evidence was gathered in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. The court disagreed, comparing Diaz cell phone to personal effects like clothing, which can be searched by arresting officers."The cell phone was an item (of personal property) on (Diaz's) person at the time of his arrest and during the administrative processing at the police station," the justices wrote. "Because the cell phone was immediately associated with defendant’s person, (police were) entitled to inspect its contents without a warrant." In fact, the ruling goes further, saying essentially that the Diaz case didn't involve an exception -- such as a need to search the phone to stop a "crime in progress." In other words, this case was not an exception, but rather the rule.For the rest of the story COURT: NO WARRANT NEEDED TO SEARCH CELL PHONE

[Art2ro]

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that police can search the cell phone of a person who's been arrested -- including text messages -- without obtaining a warrant, and use that data as evidence. I don't have a problem with swift justice as long as criminals can be put away accordingly from the use of data as legal evidence! The criminal's 4th Amendment rights was not violated, it was just due process of the law to obtain legal evidence against any suspects that has been arrested of a probable crime!