Final answer:
True. Police need a warrant to search digital information on a cell phone because of the protections against unreasonable searches and seizures outlined in the Fourth Amendment and upheld by the Supreme Court in Riley v. California.
Step-by-step explanation:
True or False: The police need a warrant to search through your cell phone.
True. According to the Riley v. California decision, police must obtain a warrant to search digital information on a cell phone seized from an individual who has been arrested. A warrant is a legal document, signed by a judge, that allows police to search and/or seize persons or property. The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures and states that warrants will only be issued upon probable cause.
Exceptions to the need for a warrant include situations where there is consent to the search, exigent circumstances, or when the items are in plain view of the officials. However, in relation to cell phones, the precedence set by Riley v. California makes it clear that a warrant is indeed necessary to search the digital information contained within.
Another important aspect highlighted by the Supreme Court in United States v. Jones and Carpenter v. United States was the extension of protection against illegal searches to include warrantless location tracking by GPS or cellular data. This reinforces the judicial trend toward protecting private digital information from warrantless searches and surveillance.