SCOTUS Ruling Huge Win for Tech Lovers
If you’re like me, you’re a huge tech buff. Americans go everywhere with their cell phones and tablets. Some even carry their laptops with them, wherever they go. I’m no exception to that and I doubt you are either.
As technology advances, so does the ability to have private information at the tip of your fingers. Instead of going into banks to cash checks, we take pictures of the checks and cash them via our bank’s mobile app. Our emails are now connected to our phones, which gives us the ability to work all hours of the day and night (Joy!) and respond instantly. Some even use their mobile devices for “extra curricular fun” – *cough* Anthony Weiner *cough* – something that is a rather new…invention.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled against warrantless police searches involving cell phones. The concern? Privacy and the amount of information that can be accessed with one touch.
Chief Justice Roberts said it best: “The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hands does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought.”
Our founding Fathers wanted to make sure we weren’t at the mercy of those in charge, that we had a means of limiting their power. After all, one of the biggest concerns the Founders had was the ability for government – including different subsets of government– to become tyrannical.
This SCOTUS ruling is a perfect example of the importance of the protections the Fourth Amendment gives us. Even though the Founders original intent was focused on houses and what was inside those houses, the same principle can apply to more modern inventions, like cell phones and laptops.
The dangers that come with unreasonable search and seizure involving cell phones? It’s a fishing game for officers and an easy one at that. Because cell phones have so many different aspects of our privacy, like who we’ve called or where we’ve been, there should be probable caused backed up by a search warrant.
This SCOTUS decision is a huge step for freedom-lovers everywhere. It means the Supreme Court is addressing concerns associated with technology and standing with the Constitution.
