June 30, 2011 (Press-News.org) As technologies develop at an exponential pace, courts across the country are left scrambling to address the issues they create. The world we live in is becoming smaller and smaller as social media and smart phones provide more and more information about users' personal lives. Invariably, judges and members of law enforcement are forced to confront the privacy concerns these platforms generate.
Specifically, courts all across the United States are in the midst of resolving the issue of whether searching cell phones without a warrant during an arrest infringes on individuals' constitutional rights to privacy. The outcome of this matter may have serious repercussions for criminal defendants in New York.
Decisions on this subject vary across jurisdictions. Judicial deliberations are centering on how cell phones ought to be classified and the privacy expectations under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution to people carrying them.
Fourth Amendment Protections
The Fourth Amendment guarantees citizens the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Presumptively, individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their home, person, papers and effects (the things they own). A warrant is required before people or their possessions may be searched. To obtain a warrant to search any of these things, law enforcement must show a judge or magistrate that there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed.
Courts have generally shied away from a precise definition of probable cause and tend to focus on the circumstances. The general concept refers to facts and circumstances that would lead sensible people to believe it is more likely than not that a crime has been committed.
However, there are some exceptions to the warrant requirement. For example, law enforcement officers are permitted to search people, and the area within their immediate control, when they are arrested. The reason for this is to preserve evidence and provide safety to all parties concerned.
Courts Divided on Warrantless Searches of Cell Phones
This past January, the California Supreme Court ruled that cell phones could be searched during the course of an arrest and any information gleaned from them could be used as evidence. The decision was largely based on case law from the 1970s allowing police officers to search clothing and cigarette packages of subjects being arrested. The judicial panel, led by Justice Ming Chin, determined that cell phones are analogous to these personal items.
However, Justice Kathryn Werdegar strongly disagreed with the majority's opinion. She distinguished between the privacy rights individuals may have in their physical person and the privacy rights people may have in the data they are carrying.
"A contemporary smart phone can hold hundreds or thousands of messages, photographs, videos, maps, contacts, financial records, memoranda and other documents, as well as records of the user's telephone calls and Web browsing. Never before has it been possible to carry so much personal and business information in one's pocket or purse. The potential impairment to privacy if arrestees' mobile phones and handheld computers are treated like clothing or cigarette packages, fully searchable without probable cause or a warrant, is correspondingly great," she noted.
A December 2009 Ohio Supreme Court decision tackled the same issue and ruled that a warrantless search of cell phones does violate the Fourth Amendment. The court found no reason why the information found in cell phones was a safety threat to arresting officers nor why evidence contained in the devices would be in danger of being lost while in police custody.
Implications for New Yorkers
Although the California ruling will likely be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, there is currently no definitive precedent for New Yorkers. Until the issue is decided, citizens carrying anything from cell phones to tablet computers should understand that anything they carry could be searched if they are arrested.
If you are facing criminal charges of any kind, it is critical you obtain experienced legal representation as quickly as possible. It is important to hire a local attorney familiar with search warrants; one who can advise you of your rights.
Article provided by Goldberg & Allen, LLP
Visit us at www.goldbergandallen.com
Warrantless Cell Phones Searches Raise Serious Constitutional Concerns
Courts all across the United States are in the midst of resolving the issue of whether searching cell phones without a warrant during an arrest infringes on individuals' constitutional rights to privacy.
2011-06-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
UT MD Anderson debuts lung cancer screening program
2011-06-30
HOUSTON - Current and former heavy smokers can now be screened more effectively for lung cancer. Results from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) revealed that detecting small lung cancers with computed tomography (CT) reduces lung cancer specific mortality by 20 percent.
Prior to the trial, lung cancer, often diagnosed in the later stages of the disease, had shown no benefit from screening because screening with standard chest X-rays did not detect cancers early enough. The trial, funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is the driving force behind a new ...
Money and mimicry
2011-06-30
"Money, money, money
Must be funny
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man's world."
-ABBA, 1976
We rely on money in our day-to-day life and it is constantly in our minds. After all, money makes the world go round, doesn't it? Now, a new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, tries to better understand the psychological effect of money and how it affects our behavior, feelings and emotions.
Jia Liu, at the University of Groningen, co-wrote the article along with ...
The Push for Honorable Discharge Status for Those Expelled Under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
2011-06-30
For years, homosexuality was grounds for discharge from the armed services of the United States. In 1993, President Clinton initiated the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" ("DADT") policy as a compromise that required gay soldiers to be discreet about their sexuality or face being thrown out of the military. DADT ruled the military policy on homosexuality for 17 years.
But, on December 22, President Obama signed into law a bill that will allow gay men and women to serve openly in uniform for the first time in U.S. History. After certification ...
At small scales, tug-of-war between electrons can lead to magnetism
2011-06-30
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- At the smallest scales, magnetism may not work quite the way scientists expected, according to a recent paper in Physical Review Letters by Rafał Oszwałdowski and Igor Žutić of the University at Buffalo and Andre Petukhov of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
The three physicists have proposed that it would be possible to create a quantum dot -- a kind of nanoparticle -- that is magnetic under surprising circumstances.
Magnetism is determined by a property all electrons possess: spin. Individual spins are akin to tiny bar ...
Four Attorneys from Albany-Area Law Firm Selected for New York Super Lawyers List
2011-06-30
Four attorneys from Hacker Murphy, LLP, in Latham, NY, have been selected for inclusion in 2011 New York Super Lawyers. The four attorneys are James E. Hacker, David R. Murphy, John F. Harwick and Mark R. Sonders.
The Super Lawyers selections are based on an annual process in given jurisdictions. Only five percent of the lawyers in each jurisdiction are typically selected.
Three of the four Hacker Murphy attorneys selected this year for the New York Super Lawyers list have been selected before. James E. Hacker was selected from 2006 to 2009. David R. Murphy and Mark ...
Immigration Law Review Article Written by Houston Attorney Benny Agosto Jr. Has Appeared In Several Publications
2011-06-30
Houston personal injury attorney Benny Agosto Jr. of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend is receiving nationwide recognition once again.
While attorney Benny Agosto is often recognized for his dedication to the Houston community and the legal profession, this time he is being singled out for his work on the widely published immigration article "But Your Honor, He's an Illegal! Can the Undocumented Worker's Alien Status Be Introduced at Trial?"
Co-authored with Texas Southern University Law Prof. Lupe Salinas and Texas attorney Eloisa ...
New therapy for childhood neuroblastoma proves feasible and safe
2011-06-30
Reston, Va. (June 29, 2011) – A new treatment option may soon be available for children with neuroblastoma according to research published in the July issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The study tested the principle that combined positron emission tomography and X-ray computed tomography (PET/CT) may be used to select children with primary refractory or relapsed high-risk neuroblastoma for treatment with a molecular radiotherapy known as 177Lu-DOTATATE. This therapeutic option was found to be viable option for children with neuroblastomas.
Neuroblastoma is a ...
Shortening time between CPR and shocks improves cardiac-arrest survival
2011-06-30
DALLAS – June 29, 2011 – Reducing the intervals between giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an electronic defibrillator shock after cardiac arrest significantly improves survival, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center emergency medicine doctors involved in an international study.
Chest compressions applied within 10 seconds before the defibrillator shocks and within 20 seconds after the shock boosted survival chances by more than half compared to the rates for people who received chest compressions more than 20 seconds before or 40 seconds after the shock, ...
UBC researchers invent new drug delivery device to treat diabetes-related vision loss
2011-06-30
A team of engineers and scientists at the University of British Columbia has developed a device that can be implanted behind the eye for controlled and on-demand release of drugs to treat retinal damage caused by diabetes.
Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of vision loss among patients with diabetes. The disease is caused by the unwanted growth of capillary cells in the retina, which in its advanced stages can result in blindness.
The novel drug delivery mechanism is detailed in the current issue of Lab on a Chip, a multidisciplinary journal on innovative microfluidic ...
Columbia SC Hotel Offers Convenient Lodging to Students Attending Freshman Orientation at the University of South Carolina
2011-06-30
The newly opened Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Columbia SC (Northeast) offers convenient lodging to students and their parents who will be attending freshman orientation at the University of South Carolina. There are just a few days left for students to pre-register to attend an orientation session. The one day sessions are held weekdays through July 7. Orientation will provide students with key information that will help them make a successful transition into the university. Students will be able to meet with academic advisors, register for fall classes, visit residence halls, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Post-LLM era: New horizons for AI with knowledge, collaboration, and co-evolution
“Sloshing” from celestial collisions solves mystery of how galactic clusters stay hot
Children poisoned by the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has risen in the U.S. – eight years of national data shows
USC researchers observe mice may have a form of first aid
VUMC to develop AI technology for therapeutic antibody discovery
Unlocking the hidden proteome: The role of coding circular RNA in cancer
Advancing lung cancer treatment: Understanding the differences between LUAD and LUSC
Study reveals widening heart disease disparities in the US
The role of ubiquitination in cancer stem cell regulation
New insights into LSD1: a key regulator in disease pathogenesis
Vanderbilt lung transplant establishes new record
Revolutionizing cancer treatment: targeting EZH2 for a new era of precision medicine
Metasurface technology offers a compact way to generate multiphoton entanglement
Effort seeks to increase cancer-gene testing in primary care
Acoustofluidics-based method facilitates intracellular nanoparticle delivery
Sulfur bacteria team up to break down organic substances in the seabed
Stretching spider silk makes it stronger
Earth's orbital rhythms link timing of giant eruptions and climate change
Ammonia build-up kills liver cells but can be prevented using existing drug
New technical guidelines pave the way for widespread adoption of methane-reducing feed additives in dairy and livestock
Eradivir announces Phase 2 human challenge study of EV25 in healthy adults infected with influenza
New study finds that tooth size in Otaria byronia reflects historical shifts in population abundance
nTIDE March 2025 Jobs Report: Employment rate for people with disabilities holds steady at new plateau, despite February dip
Breakthrough cardiac regeneration research offers hope for the treatment of ischemic heart failure
Fluoride in drinking water is associated with impaired childhood cognition
New composite structure boosts polypropylene’s low-temperature toughness
While most Americans strongly support civics education in schools, partisan divide on DEI policies and free speech on college campuses remains
Revolutionizing surface science: Visualization of local dielectric properties of surfaces
LearningEMS: A new framework for electric vehicle energy management
Nearly half of popular tropical plant group related to birds-of-paradise and bananas are threatened with extinction
[Press-News.org] Warrantless Cell Phones Searches Raise Serious Constitutional ConcernsCourts all across the United States are in the midst of resolving the issue of whether searching cell phones without a warrant during an arrest infringes on individuals' constitutional rights to privacy.