phill4paul
01-18-2016, 06:24 AM
BARRE CITY, Vt. - On a cold, sunny Thursday afternoon, Deputy Jean Miguel Bariteau of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department spots the driver of a red hatchback using his cell phone. When Bariteau pulls him over, it's a straightforward call to write a ticket. He saw the driver use his phone, and the young man behind the wheel admits it.
If the man behind the wheel had denied violating Vermont's distracted driver law, checking the phone records would have helped the deputy make his case. But a search like that requires a warrant.
Lawmakers want to make it easier for officers like Bariteau to enforce Vermont’s 2014 ban on using hand-held devices while on highways. They’re asking Vermonters to give up some of their privacy in exchange for safer roads. But even the chief sponsor of the bill said he hasn’t “really thought about” what, exactly, would be fair game for a warrantless search under his bill.
H.527, introduced by Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, would allow law enforcement officers to see a driver's phone or other electronic device, to see if it was being used. LaLonde said he doesn’t intend for police to be able to take a person’s phone back to his squad car and rummage through it.
LaLonde’s bill is an amendment to the 2014 ban, and like that act, it refers to “portable electronic devices.” Opponents worry this could lead to searches of tablets and laptops as well as phones. LaLonde said he’s primarily concerned about texting, but cares more about the “activity” of distracted driving, no matter what the device
LaLonde said he looked at the precedent of breathalyzer tests. Anyone who drives a vehicle on a highway in Vermont is implied to have given consent to take a breath test if an officer suspects him of driving drunk. Refusing to do so can be introduced as evidence in a criminal proceeding.
Under LaLonde’s bill, a driver who refuses police access to his phone would get the same penalty he’d get if he was, in fact, texting. The bill also expands the definition of texting to include voice-activated texting, which is no less distracting than texting by hand, according to the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance.
LaLonde's bill is not the only one that tackles the issue of implied consent as it relates to driving. Another proposed bill would amend the implied consent provision of Vermont’s existing drunk driving law so that a test would be required of a driver who was involved in a collision that caused a serious injury or death. As the law reads now, police need reasonable suspicion that the driver has alcohol or drugs in his system to administer a breathalyzer.
“We may be headed toward treating a smartphone like an open bottle of alcohol,” he said. Having a phone out, instead of in a glove box or in the trunk, is too tempting, he said.
As for Rep. LaLonde, he said the idea of a cop asking to see his phone doesn’t bother him.
“Personally, if I’m in a car and I’ve been text messaging, I should expect narrow privacy,” he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/01/17/warrantless-cell-phone-searches/78938740/
If the man behind the wheel had denied violating Vermont's distracted driver law, checking the phone records would have helped the deputy make his case. But a search like that requires a warrant.
Lawmakers want to make it easier for officers like Bariteau to enforce Vermont’s 2014 ban on using hand-held devices while on highways. They’re asking Vermonters to give up some of their privacy in exchange for safer roads. But even the chief sponsor of the bill said he hasn’t “really thought about” what, exactly, would be fair game for a warrantless search under his bill.
H.527, introduced by Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, would allow law enforcement officers to see a driver's phone or other electronic device, to see if it was being used. LaLonde said he doesn’t intend for police to be able to take a person’s phone back to his squad car and rummage through it.
LaLonde’s bill is an amendment to the 2014 ban, and like that act, it refers to “portable electronic devices.” Opponents worry this could lead to searches of tablets and laptops as well as phones. LaLonde said he’s primarily concerned about texting, but cares more about the “activity” of distracted driving, no matter what the device
LaLonde said he looked at the precedent of breathalyzer tests. Anyone who drives a vehicle on a highway in Vermont is implied to have given consent to take a breath test if an officer suspects him of driving drunk. Refusing to do so can be introduced as evidence in a criminal proceeding.
Under LaLonde’s bill, a driver who refuses police access to his phone would get the same penalty he’d get if he was, in fact, texting. The bill also expands the definition of texting to include voice-activated texting, which is no less distracting than texting by hand, according to the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance.
LaLonde's bill is not the only one that tackles the issue of implied consent as it relates to driving. Another proposed bill would amend the implied consent provision of Vermont’s existing drunk driving law so that a test would be required of a driver who was involved in a collision that caused a serious injury or death. As the law reads now, police need reasonable suspicion that the driver has alcohol or drugs in his system to administer a breathalyzer.
“We may be headed toward treating a smartphone like an open bottle of alcohol,” he said. Having a phone out, instead of in a glove box or in the trunk, is too tempting, he said.
As for Rep. LaLonde, he said the idea of a cop asking to see his phone doesn’t bother him.
“Personally, if I’m in a car and I’ve been text messaging, I should expect narrow privacy,” he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/01/17/warrantless-cell-phone-searches/78938740/