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July 30, 2014 |
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Missouri State Opening + New Multi-State Additions |
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We are proud to announce U.S. Law Shield of Missouri is now open!
If you have friends or loved ones in the State of
Missouri, invite them to become part of the U.S. Law Shield family and
join today!
More good news, we have just added several new states to our Multi-State Program including:
California, Connecticut, Washington DC, Iowa, Maryland, Wisconsin and Wyoming
Our complete list of states covered under the Multi-State Program includes:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Connecticut, Washington DC, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
To add the Multi-State option to your membership or
for more information, please call our office at 877-474-7184 and we will
be happy to assist you.
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Featured Seminars: Members, Join Us and Bring a Friend |
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U.S. Law Shield is proud to host informative Gun Law
Seminars and Workshops all over the State of Colorado. Come join us as
our program attorneys and firearms experts separate legal fact from
fiction.
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COLORADO SPRINGS
Whistling Pines Gun Club
Monday, August 11, 2014
5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Sign up here!
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CENTENNIAL
Centennial Gun Club
Friday, August 15, 2014
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Sign up here!
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LAKEWOOD
BluCore Shooting Center
Saturday, August 16, 2014
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Sign up here!
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RAMAH
Ben Lomond Gun Club
Sunday, August 17, 2014
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Sign up here!
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To view a complete list of seminars and workshops in your area, please go to www.GunLawSeminar.com. We hope to see you at one of our next events!
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Supreme Court Update |
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Can a Police Officer Search My Cell Phone Without a Warrant?
Fourth Amendment jurisprudence may be the most heavily
litigated amendment to our Constitution. As a general rule, the police
must have a warrant prior to conducting a search or seizure unless an
exception applies. These exceptions to the warrant requirement have been
created by the courts interpreting and deciding when it is reasonable
to search and seize persons and property without a warrant. As
technology advances, the 4th Amendment must evolve as well. There is one
piece of technology that has become an extension of our person, our
cell phone. Many of our cell phones are overflowing with personal
information such as texts, personal contacts, schedules, emails, and
photos. Can a police officer search through the personal contents of
your cell phone without a warrant?
On June 25, 2014, the United States Supreme Court ruled
"No." To understand the importance of this ruling, it is useful to
review the evolution of prior lower court decisions on this subject.
Division of the Lower Courts
Until recently, courts around the country have been
split on whether a police officer could search through the contents of a
person's cell phone without a warrant. In a California case, a man was
stopped for driving with expired registration tags and a suspended
license. The police conducted a search incident to arrest finding a
smart phone in the man's pocket. A "search incident to arrest" is an
exception to the warrant requirement that allows a police officer to
search a person and the area immediately surrounding the person during
or immediately after a lawful arrest usually for "officer safety."
The officer looked through the phone's contact list and
text messages where he saw certain names preceded by the letters "CK."
The police officer believed that "CK" was an acronym for "Crip Killers,"
a slang term for members of the Bloods gang. Hours after the arrest, a
detective who specialized in gangs further examined the contents of the
phone and found videos and photos associated with the Bloods gang. In
one photo, the man was posed next to an automobile that had been
involved in a shooting. He was later charged and convicted of three
crimes including attempted murder. The California Supreme Court held
that the Fourth Amendment permits a warrantless search of a cell phone
incident to arrest as long as the cell phone was immediately associated
with the arrestee's person.
A case arising out of Massachusetts had a completely
different outcome. In that case, a police officer conducting routine
surveillance saw an individual make a drug sale from his car. Officers
arrested and seized two cell phones. After arriving at the station, the
officers noticed the phone repeatedly receiving calls from "My House."
The officers opened the cell phone, saw a picture of a woman and a baby
set as the phone's wallpaper. They pressed a button to access the call
log, saw the phone number associated with "My House," and used an online
phone directory to trace the phone number to an apartment building.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the specific apartment and seized
drugs, cash, and weapons.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals held that cell
phones require a warrant to be searched (completely opposite of the
California Supreme Court). They reasoned that cell phones are different
from other physical possessions that may be searched incident to arrest
without a warrant because of the amount of personal data contained
within the cell phone.
What Did the Supreme Court Decide?
With a clear division between the courts, the United
States Supreme Court made a ruling on this issue in June of 2014. The
Supreme Court held that police may not search digital information on a
cell phone without a warrant. The Court reasoned that cell phones are
the one device carried on the person that has an immense storage
capacity and collects personal, detailed information.
The Court stated that data stored on a cell phone
cannot be used as a weapon to harm an arresting officer or to effectuate
an arrestee's escape (normally the justification for a search incident
to arrest). Officers may examine the phone's physical aspects to make
sure that it cannot be used as a weapon, but they cannot go through the
cell phone's contents because the contents cannot harm anyone. What if
the contents of the cell phone might warn officers of an impending
danger such as a confederate headed to the scene to harm a police
officer? The Court stated that this concern should be addressed on a
case by case basis and is not an issue in this instance. If it were to
arise, the exigent circumstance exception to the warrant requirement may
apply. "Exigent circumstances" typically means there is an emergency
condition such as a fleeing felon, a person's life is in danger or
evidence is being destroyed.
A second issue addressed by the Supreme Court was, what
if information or evidence that may lead to an arrest is destroyed on
the cell phone? The Court stated that there is no indication that this
problem is prevalent and even if the cell phone was secured by the
police, it could still be vulnerable to another person remotely wiping
the cell phone's data.
The Court made it clear that this decision does not
prevent a cell phone from ever being searched without a warrant, but
that a warrant is generally required before a search. The narrow ruling
states that a cell phone cannot be searched without a warrant pursuant
to the search incident to arrest exception. However, the Court did leave
the door open that in the event of an exigent circumstance, there may
be a justification for a warrantless search of a cell phone.
As always, we will strive to keep you updated on changes in the law that may impact your legal rights.
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QuickLinks |
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U.S. Law Shield 1020 Bay Area Blvd., Suite 220 Houston, TX 77058 |
Telephone: 877-474-7184 Website: www.uslawshield.com
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