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Bluelight Crew
At a time when smartphones have become the storehouse of everyone’s personal information, can an arresting officer seize yours and rummage through its contents, then maybe call your business associates and poke your Facebook friends?
They could — but not anymore, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
At least not without a search warrant.
That ruling was applauded as a landmark by civil libertarians and defense attorneys, who argued that the state’s archaic search warrant laws have become outdated in a digital age where people collect endless amounts of personal information on their cellphones.
“What the court is doing is standing up for what little privacy is left in America by saying police don’t have the right to invade our whole life without the authorization of the courts first,’’ said Howard Simon, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
The controversy, which is raging across the nation, was also on the Florida Legislature’s agenda this past session. However, a House bill co-sponsored by Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, that would have made fishing expeditions of cellphone information illegal seems destined for the cutting room floor.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, as well as and other sheriffs and prosecutors, denounced the proposed bill, testifying before lawmakers last month that the law would tie the hands of police and ultimately protect drug peddlers, pedophiles and murderers.
“There is going to be evidence that is not going to be obtained because of this decision,’’ Gualtieri said Thursday after the Supreme Court decision. “It takes about four hours to get a search warrant — that’s just the way it is. Cases are going to become more difficult to prosecute.’’
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/02/3376894/florida-supreme-court-cell-phone.html#storylink=cpy
They could — but not anymore, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
At least not without a search warrant.
That ruling was applauded as a landmark by civil libertarians and defense attorneys, who argued that the state’s archaic search warrant laws have become outdated in a digital age where people collect endless amounts of personal information on their cellphones.
“What the court is doing is standing up for what little privacy is left in America by saying police don’t have the right to invade our whole life without the authorization of the courts first,’’ said Howard Simon, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
The controversy, which is raging across the nation, was also on the Florida Legislature’s agenda this past session. However, a House bill co-sponsored by Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, that would have made fishing expeditions of cellphone information illegal seems destined for the cutting room floor.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, as well as and other sheriffs and prosecutors, denounced the proposed bill, testifying before lawmakers last month that the law would tie the hands of police and ultimately protect drug peddlers, pedophiles and murderers.
“There is going to be evidence that is not going to be obtained because of this decision,’’ Gualtieri said Thursday after the Supreme Court decision. “It takes about four hours to get a search warrant — that’s just the way it is. Cases are going to become more difficult to prosecute.’’
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/02/3376894/florida-supreme-court-cell-phone.html#storylink=cpy
