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Calif. Appeals Court Approves Cell Phone Searches During Traffic Stops

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posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:21 PM
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Calif. Appeals Court Approves Cell Phone Searches During Traffic Stops


www.theblaze.com

In a case explicitly decided to set a precedent, the California Appellate court has determined police officers can rifle through your cellphone during a traffic violation
(visit the link for the full news article)



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:21 PM
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It is often said, "As goes California, so goes the nation." As the increasingly elusive commodity known as "privacy" continues its rapid erosion, California is setting a precident those of us concerned with such things might find quite ugly indeed.

True, California isn't the only state that allows dubious cell-phone searches: Florida and Georgia have beat it to the punch. But this case is noteworthy in that it has been hotly contested and may end up going to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, if you are in Cali and you get pulled over for any reason, know that your cell is fair game.

www.theblaze.com
(visit the link for the full news article)
edit on 10/6/11 by silent thunder because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:25 PM
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reply to post by silent thunder
 


This was already posted, www.abovetopsecret.com... but since this forum is special I guess it's fine here as well.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:35 PM
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I wonder exactly what they expect to find on a person's phone???



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:36 PM
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I live in California, and this is scary. Actually, government arrogance throughout this entire nation is getting pretty damn scary. Well, I'll lock my cell phone if/when I get pulled over. Is it illegal not to provide the password? Or I'll simply pull out the battery, and sit there and smile at the pig while he tries to figure out how to turn on the phone without a power source.

Now, in the article, it also says they can only do it if they decide to impound your car. So,if you do something serious enough,that you aren't driving your car home, and it instead gets impounded, then everything will be searched anyway. Doesn't sound like a pig will be going through your phone next time you roll through a stop sign. I wonder what attorneys and the ACLU will have to say about this.
edit on 6-10-2011 by MysticPearl because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:36 PM
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Are you required to give your unlock code? If not, how can they search without your consent? If so, how do they enforce that in view of the fifth amendment?



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:45 PM
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reply to post by silent thunder
 


Yeah they've been doing that around here where I live. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but people being arrested for a certain offense have had their cell phones confiscated, searched, and they have been questioned about their text messages.

This urinates all over the 4th Amendment.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:46 PM
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My phone has a code that must be entered in order to open its contents. I will forget it in the event that I am pulled over.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 04:53 PM
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I dug out my old Samsung T Mobile phone and bought a pre paid SIM card for it. Then I set my AT&T iPhone to call forward my T Mobile phone whenever I am out driving. The cops can search all they want. There is nothing on my old T Mobile phone to search. Problem solved.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:05 PM
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You know what just occurred to me?

A lot of people in recent years have been using their cell phones to make videos of encounters with the police. We can see many examples on youtube...violations of law and proceedure that are either embarrasing or incriminating for police. In the old days, of course, it was your word against theirs, but if something goes viral on Youtube it can embarrass an entire police department.

I wonder if confiscation of cell phones during pullovers has more to do with preventing phone videos than it does about inspecting content....just a thought...



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:08 PM
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Originally posted by sixswornsermon
I wonder exactly what they expect to find on a person's phone???


They will find a phone is connected to a laptop or PC, time to start searching there too.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:09 PM
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reply to post by MsAphrodite
 


Goolge this: forensic cell phone data extraction.

There are lots of companies that sell or use software and hardware that does not care about the password, the phone was dead (water logged), or that the dataport is destroyed. There are ways to obtain what is on the phone.

Sometimes it can be expensive, but the Pol-ice don't care about expense. They only care about their fragile ego's.

They hook up your phone to a device that reads the phone and transfers over all the contained info.

My question is why doesn't Verizon have this device. When my phone fell in a puddle of water and died they told me that there is no way to extract the data. I lost a lot due to the water penetration. (Why not make all phones water-proof? Duh.)

The Pol-ice can extract and read almost any phone without any hassle. And apparantly legally too!

This country is quickly going down the tubes and all of our rights are being tossed out as well.

-E2

ETA: They can also access deleted data as well.
edit on 6-10-2011 by EyesII because: I hate cell phones



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:10 PM
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Originally posted by MsAphrodite
My phone has a code that must be entered in order to open its contents. I will forget it in the event that I am pulled over.


They will get you for obstruction or some kind of BS then they will get a device to get in your phone and maybe plant a few pictures of naked little children.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:18 PM
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I love my state. *sarcasm intended*

There is nothing on my cell phone I am worried about. Mostly texts with friends discussing things like kid vomit and and and pms. Still, it is an invasion of privacy.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:44 PM
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Originally posted by silent thunder

It is often said, "As goes California, so goes the nation."


Except that in this case California is following other states, and the principle of being allowed to search any "container" in a car is well established - from the ruling:


“The deputies had unqualified authority under Gant to search the passenger compartment of the vehicle and any container found therein, including Reid’s cell phone. It is up to the US Supreme Court to impose any greater limits on officers’ authority to search incident to arrest.”




posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:50 PM
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reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul
 



What exactly makes a cellphone a "container"? If a cellphone is a container than is a vat a communications device? How about books? Are books containers because they "contain" information? In the old days one of the accusations that Americans used to level against Communist states was that they'd inspect your reading material, and Americans took pride in the fact that such nonsense was not tolerated in the free world.



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 05:53 PM
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reply to post by silent thunder
 


Perhaps you could read the article &/or go to the judgement to see why that determination was made?



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 07:45 PM
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The article doesn't explain why a phone is a "container," Aloysius. Have *YOU* read it?

Perhaps you could clarify the logic, since you seem so supportive of it? I don't have time to plough through the entire judgement, but you seem to know what you are talking about so maybe you can help the rest of us understand.
edit on 6-10-2011 by Partygirl because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 08:02 PM
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reply to post by Partygirl
 



the article has some words about Florida treating it as a container,


Florida and Georgia are among the states that give no protection to a phone during a search after a violation has been committed. In particular, Florida law treats a smartphone as a “container” for the purposes of a search, similar to say a cardboard box open on the passenger seat, despite the thousands of personal emails, contacts, and photos a phone can carry stretching back years.



and explains that the judge beleives that "Gant" is justification - which if you have a modicum of google-fu you can use to find Arizona vs Gant

If you need more detail than that, and since it is the judges determination that it is so for a cell phone, it seems to me that the determination would be a better place to seek further clarity.

why so hostile to a simple answer??


edit on 6-10-2011 by Aloysius the Gaul because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 6 2011 @ 08:04 PM
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reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul
 


You snarkily accused the OP of not reading the article so obviously the logic is in the article...right?

The article "has some words" stating that a cellphone is a container, but it does not expplain WHY this is so.

Will you please explain for us? Since you seem to imply it is crystal clear.

The question isn't "what is the judgement" or "could you give me a link to the judgement?"

The question is "Why is a cellphone a container?"
edit on 6-10-2011 by Partygirl because: (no reason given)



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