Bill would require warrant to search cell phone

Bill would require warrant to search cell phone

 

 California legislators are nearing a final vote on a cell phone privacy bill that could force Gov. Jerry Brown to choose sides between civil liberties advocates and police.

SB914 by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would overturn a state Supreme Court ruling in January that allowed officers, without a warrant, to search the contents of a cell phone they take from anyone they arrest.

The majority in the 5-2 ruling said arrestees lose their right of privacy in anything they're carrying when taken into custody. Leno said the decision lets police comb through private information at will without the judicial scrutiny that the law is supposed to require.

The court "doesn't recognize 21st century technology and the enormous amount of information in our smart phones," he said in an interview.

Leno noted that officers need a search warrant from a judge before looking into an arrestee's file cabinets or opening up a computer. "Why do they not need a warrant before they go through your cell phone, which has more information?" Leno asked.

The answer, said Ron Cottingham, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, is that cell phones may contain vital information about crimes, including some that are still in progress.

"The information is accessible and easily destroyed," he said. "Some people are just let go (after an arrest), and they get out and erase it" before police can get a warrant.

Leno said he is amending the bill to make it clear that the normal rules allowing officers to search without a warrant in an emergency, to prevent injury or destruction of evidence, would apply to cell phones.

If the change doesn't satisfy police groups and prosecutors, SB914 could become the first contested crime bill to reach Brown's desk since he took office in January.

The measure cleared the state Senate on a 28-9 vote June 1, with six Republicans among the supporters, and is now pending on the Assembly floor. Supporters include privacy-rights groups, defense lawyers and media organizations.

During Brown's first stint as governor from 1975 to 1983, he vetoed a bill to reinstate the death penalty and had a generally liberal record on crime issues and judicial appointments, despite signing sentencing laws that have multiplied the state's prison population.

But Brown tried to cultivate law enforcement support as attorney general from 2007 until this January and took positions on criminal justice issues that were similar to those of his predecessors. Leno said he hasn't heard from the governor on the bill but plans to contact him and see if there are any changes he wants.

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

San Fransisco Chronicle

Monday, July 4, 2011