Cell phones may force courts to readdress searches, but it really has nothing to do with modern technology. The US Constitution is absolutely clear. One cannot legally or morally search someone without probable cause and a warrant.
Watch an episode of Cops sometime, and you’ll see the same pattern repeated over and over. A citizen is stopped for being in the wrong place, walking down the road, or doing anything else the cops thinks deserves closer attention. The cops do a pat down which they typically claim is for the citizen’s safety. They find a packet of drugs, and the person is off to jail.
Now I’m as opposed to drugs as one can possibly be. I don’t even like prescription drugs and take them only when absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, those cops search people without probable cause that an actual crime has been committed are violating the spirit and clear intent of the constitution.
I don’t really care what sort of rationalizations the black robed tyrants use to subvert the law. I can read the US Constitution myself, and it was clearly written to carefully limit the powers of government. In any situation where there is doubt, the intent was to have the benefit of doubt go to the states or the people. The federal government was clearly not meant to be this all powerful, do anything it wants behemoth with the rights of the people limited to extremely narrow protections provide by the Bill of Rights.
I don’t know what we can do about it of course, but if cell phones give us another shot at stopping the government from doing illegal searches, good! It’s absurd to think a cell phone is any different than private papers and possessions which are protected from unreasonable search, meaning the authorities need probable cause that a crime was committed and a warrant before searching a cell phone.
“Cell phones may force courts to readdress searches, but it really has nothing to do with modern technology...The federal government was clearly not meant to be this all powerful, do anything it wants behemoth with the rights of the people limited to extremely narrow protections provide by the Bill of Rights...”
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Thank you for this very well thought out reasoning.
All Freepers: Please read CitizenUSA’s whole post.
Excellent!