Can police search data on a minor's cell phone and electronic device that is not related to drug use or other criminal activities by the minor?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Southern (In re Southern), A152573 (Cal. App. 2018):

Like other courts, we agree the electronics search condition can implicate constitutional privacy rights. However, we do not find a constitutional impediment to allowing officers to search data likely to reveal drug use or other criminal activities by a minor so long as the electronic search condition is narrowly tailored to promote the minor's rehabilitation. (In re P.O., supra, 246 Cal.App.4th at p. 298; People v. Appleton (2016) 245 Cal.App.4th 717, 719.) As other courts have observed, many types of data available on a cell phone or electronic device would not fall into the category of revealing drug use or other crimes. (See, e.g., In re P.O., at p. 298; Appleton, at pp. 719, 725 [noting cell phones may hold "a large volume of documents or data, much of which may have nothing to do with illegal activity," including, for example, "medical records, financial records, personal diaries, and intimate correspondence with family and friends"].)

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