Article
Smartphones and the Fourth Amendment: Privacy in the Palm of Your Hand?
University of the District of Columbia David Clarke School of Law Law Review
(2012)
Abstract
Incident to a drug arrest, a police officer removes a smartphone from the
pocket of the defendant. The smartphone may have incriminating evidencephone
numbers, pictures, text messages, and e-mails. But can the officer examine
the smartphone on the scene or back at the station? Or does the officer need to
show probable cause and obtain a warrant before examining the phone? If the
phone were instead the arrestee's wallet or a cigarette package, under the search
incident to lawful arrest exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement
the officer could open and search inside either of these "containers." Anything
found in the wallet or cigarette package, including evidence of a crime other
than the one of arrest, could then lawfully be used against the arrestee.1
Keywords
- Fourth Amendment,
- warrentless search,
- privacy
Disciplines
Publication Date
Fall 2012
Citation Information
Margaret M. Lawton. "Smartphones and the Fourth Amendment: Privacy in the Palm of Your Hand?" University of the District of Columbia David Clarke School of Law Law Review Vol. 16 (2012) p. 89 - 122 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/margaret_lawton/16/