Riley v. California

The police have long had authority to search a suspect incident to arrest. The question in this case is whether the police, acting without a warrant, may search the contents of a cell phone found on or near a person who has just been arrested. Noting that cell phones now contain many of the “papers” and “effects” that would previously have been stored in our homes, including details of constitutionally protected associations, the ACLU’s amicus brief urges the Court to adopt a per se rule prohibiting such searches without a warrant.