Supremes Strike Down Warrantless Cell Phone Searches

9-0. Even the liberals got this one right.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police cannot go snooping through people’s cell phones without a warrant, in a unanimous decision that amounts to a major statement in favor of privacy rights.

Police agencies had argued that searching through the data on cell phones was no different than asking someone to turn out his pockets, but the justices rejected that, saying a cell phone is more fundamental.

The ruling amounts to a 21st century update to legal understanding of privacy rights.

“The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the unanimous court.

“Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple— get a warrant.”

In other SCOTUS news, the court declined to hand down a ruling in the Hobby Lobby suit against the Obamacare contraception mandate. It also ruled in favor of broadcasters in a digital rebroadcasting case. A decision in the Hobby Lobby case may come down tomorrow.