Police Can't Search Smartphones Without a Warrant Rules Supreme Court

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. (Photo from
Wikimedia Commons)

By David G. Savage
The Supreme Court has decided that Americans have a constitutional right to privacy in the personal information they carry on smartphones, ruling unanimously that police may not search such devices without a warrant from a magistrate.

The decision is major victory for privacy advocates and the most surprising criminal law ruling handed down in years by the conservative-leaning high court.

“Modern cellphones are not just another technological convenience,” said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans ‘the privacies of life.’ ”

These tiny devices “could just as easily be called cameras, video players, Rolodexes, calendars, tape recorders, libraries, diaries, albums, televisions, maps or newspapers,” he said.

For that reason, the chief justice said the court would not allow police officers who make an arrest to routinely seize and inspect the suspect’s cellphone or smartphone.

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