Steven Morris Hurd v. California

In Riley v. California, 573 U.S. ___, 134 S.Ct. 2473 (2014), this Court held that police may not, without a warrant, search digital information on a cellular phone seized incident to arrest. Id. at 2480, 2495. The search incident to arrest of petitioner’s cell phone took place in January of 2009. This Court in United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973) held that “in the case of a lawful custodial arrest a full search of the person is not only an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment, but is also a ‘reasonable’ search under that Amendment.” Id. at 235. In Riley, the Court noted that the Robinson holding pertained to physical objects, not digital data. “[U]nknown physical objects may always pose risks, no matter how slight, during the tense atmosphere of a custodial arrest. . . . No such unknowns exist with respect to digital data.” Riley, 134 S.Ct. at 2485. The question presented is: Whether this Court’s 1970s search incident to arrest precedent involving physical objects applied to non-physical objects such as digital data prior to this Court’s ruling in Riley.