Search and Seizure of Cell Phones: Can You Hear Me Now? - 0 views
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May school officials lawfully “search” the confiscated cell phone to look at stored text messages, photographs, videos, and logs of incoming and outgoing calls? Clearly, the circumstances of the search must satisfy the T.L.O. standard. Not as clear, however, is whether such a search violates federal or Michigan laws regarding stored electronic communications.
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[A] search of a student by a teacher or other school officials will be ‘justified at its inception’ when there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school. Such a search will be permissible in its scope when the measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction.”
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In Klump v Nazareth Area Sch Dist, 425 F Supp 2d 622 (ED Pa, 2006), a federal district court denied the school’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a student whose cell phone was searched.
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compensatory and punitive damages for the alleged unconstitutional search, violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, invasion of privacy, and defamation.
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The court ruled that the student had stated a claim for the alleged violation of his right to be free from an unreasonable search.
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(2) A person shall not willfully and maliciously read or copy any message from any telegraph, telephone line, wire, cable, computer network, computer program, or computer system, or telephone or other electronic medium of communication that the person accessed without authorization. (3) A person shall not willfully and maliciously make unauthorized use of any electronic medium of communication, including the internet or a computer, computer program, computer system, or computer network, or telephone.
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Legal Implications for Searching Student Cell Phones. Although this article is written against Michigan law, it does help clarify some of the concepts for what is permissable. Note that searching a student's cell phone or wireless device without parent permission may violate state wiretapping laws.
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Confiscating and looking at information on cell phones by school officials is still not clear. This is a very interesting case study for those working with digital citizenship issues at their school.
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Fascinating article explaining Michigan take on searching and confiscating cell phones.