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Cellphones

Friday, December 7, 2012

Can Police Search Your Cellphone Without a Warrant?

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled police don't need a search warrant to look at a cellphone's call list after arresting the phone's owner. As courts around the country grapple with the issue, tell us: is this reasonable search and seizure?

What's the difference between personal information and correspondence you have physically stored in your home, and similar information that's on your cellphone? And what should police have access to without a warrant? It's a question that courts across the nation are dealing with it and one that arose here in Massachusetts on Wednesday, when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that police don't need a search warrant to look at the call list of a person's cellphone during while searching that person's personal property after an arrest. However, in writing the court's opinion for Commonwealth vs. Demetrius A. Phifer, Justice Margot Botsford cited other court cases that raise questions about the extent that law enforcement officials can access …

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paul surette

2:28 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012

Bob, do they also know who's wife I covet?   more ›

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

POLL: Should All Cellphone Use by Drivers Be Banned?

Vote, and then see what your neighbors have to say.

The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency, recently recommended that states ban the use of hands-free cellphone use, according to a report by The New York Times.  The agency based its non-binding recommendation on a decade of research that revealed the considerable extent to which people being distracted by talking on the phone, let alone texting, caused collisions.  Also, the agency said that it worried that the ability to watch movies, play games and send email on smart phones has made using them in the car more dangerous.  The head of the board said she realizes that the recommendation would be unpopular, but said it was the "right thing," according to the report.  With this announcement in mind, we at Somervile …

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