Court clears warrantless cellphone searches

From TG Daily:

California's Supreme Court has ruled that the police don't need a warrant to read text messages held on a suspect's phone.

The opinion was handed down during the trial of Gregory Diaz, arrested for drug dealing in 2007. On his arrest, the police found tabs of Ecstasy in his possession, along with a phone containing a suspicious text message that appeared to be agreeing a price.

Warrantless searches of 'persons, houses, papers, and effects' are permitted where they are 'incident to lawful arrest' - on the grounds that there's always a danger that the arrested person might try to conceal or destroy evidence.

This article also gets a +1 for actually linking to the text of the decision. Bravo!

People v. Diaz