According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), followingBob Offer-Westort’s arrest one of the two officers in questionbegan to scroll through the detainee’s text messages and read themaloud.
The plaintiff, a longtime activist in the area, was concerned thatsome of the personal content of these texts would damage hisexisting relationships with local officials.
This latest lawsuit highlights the ongoing dispute between privacyadvocates and law enforcement officials.The California SupremeCourt ruled in 2011 that warrantless searches of mobile phones didnot violate the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonablesearches and seizures.
California Governor Jerry Brown, in turn, cited thatprecedent when he vetoed legislation which would have requiredpolice to obtain a warrant before searching through the mobilephones of suspects.
In the case of Offer-Westort, police began to read through histexts prior to formal booking, and allegedly did so for weeks untilthe phone was returned to him months after the arrest.
The ACLU aims to use this latest lawsuit to demonstrate that suchseizure and search violates California’s constitution.
Marley Degner, an attorney whose firm is providing pro bonoservices in the case, believes that cellphones are now“virtually home offices that contain personal, professional andfinancial information about their owners and others.”
As such, the suit will seek to make the case that warrantlesssearches of cell phones not only violate the rights of thosearrested, but also those of family, friends, co-workers and anyoneelse whose information may be held by the device. No hearing datehas been set thus far for this case.
On the federal level, lawmakers from both parties have attempted tointroduce reforms to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of1986 to ensure law enforcement obtain warrants before searchingelectronic communications or location data. Late last year,representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Ted Poe (R-Texas) and SuzanDelBene (D-Wash.) introduced legislation that would have amendedECPA with greater privacy guarantees, though the bill failed toadvance to the Senate.
