I have a hard time understanding legal jargon.
Does anyone know if this means that they can’t confiscate your cell phone during a traffic stop or other stop? Just wondering if it doesn’t mean much if they can take it anyway and then wait to search until they have a warrant.
In other words, will be have time to smash the phone and destroy it, much like the IRS, before they can use it against us?
Essentially you are correct. They must wait for a warrant. They cannot even look at the call log. To obtain a warrant, they must prove to a judge that one is necessary for them to see what’s on the phone in order to prosecute the crime that is at hand, not just snoop to see what they can find...................
I think the key here is that the information on the device is not observable until a search warrant is obtained.
As far as confiscating the device, the courts have held that law enforcement has a duty to gather evidence. If someone is recording an incident, the recording could hold information relating to that person’s guilt or innocence.
If the device is confiscated for evidence, a receipt must be given and the device logged into property and evidence before the end of shift. This is the policy in California and Arizona.
By confiscating the device, it prevents the evidence from being photo shopped or altered.
For the cop haters, please don’t insult the intelligent people on this forum with stupid questions like “What’s to prevent the jack booted thugs from altering the evidence?”
The Supreme Court has ruled in the past that if you are arrested (not just a traffic stop, but an actual arrest), the police can search you without a warrant and use as evidence anything they find on you. Today's ruling says that that rule no longer applies to cell phones; the police can seize them if you're arrested, but can't search them until they get a warrant.