Court: Cops Can Read Your Texts Without a Warrant

Calif. court decides suspects' cell phones can be searched after arrest
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 5, 2011 4:04 AM CST
Updated Jan 5, 2011 7:02 AM CST
Court: Cops Can Read Your Texts Without a Warrant
The court upheld the conviction of a drug dealer whose phone was checked by police after his arrest.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, FILE)

Police in California don't need a warrant to check messages on suspects' cell phones, the state's Supreme Court decided yesterday. The court decided 5-2 that cell phones, like clothing, can be subjected to warrantless searches after a suspect is arrested, AP reports.The two dissenting justices argued that US Supreme Court decisions from the '70s on the right to search an arrested individual's property should not extend to modern devices, the San Francisco Examiner notes.
(More California stories.)

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