Citation[]
Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373, 134 S.Ct. 2473 (2014) (full-text).
U.S. Supreme Court Proceedings[]
The Court unanimously held that the warrantless search and seizure of digital contents of a cell phone during an arrest is unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts held that:
| “ | Digital data stored on a cell phone cannot itself be used as a weapon to harm an arresting officer or to effectuate the arrestee's escape. Law enforcement officers remain free to examine the physical aspects of a phone to ensure that it will not be used as a weapon — say, to determine whether there is a razor blade hidden between the phone and its case. Once an officer has secured a phone and eliminated any potential physical threats, however, data on the phone can endanger no one. | ” |