Reasonable! Missouri Voters Overhwelmingly Pass Amendment Extending 4A Protections to Electronic Devices, Data

As noted at
Reason 24/7 this morning, Justin Amash’s hard-fought victory in
Michigan’s third district wasn’t the only bit of good news for
critics of the surveillance state. In Missouri an amendment to the
state constitution, supported by State Sen. Rob Schaaf, (R-St.
Joseph), that extends protection from unreasonable search and
seizure to electronic communications and data passed
overwhelmingly. In other words, cops, and other interested
government busybodies, will need a warrant for that kind of
information. The Kansas City Star came out against
the amendment, and another reaffirming the right to bear arms,
arguing it was “vaguely worded” and that the right place to secure
the right to privacy was in litigation.

Though the amendment was proposed before the Supreme Court’s
ruling, the June
Riley vs. California decision extended nationwide the
same kind of protection from unreasonable search and seizure to
people’s cellphones. Over the last few years, states such as

Texas,
California,
Maine, and
Tennessee have moved toward extending Fourth Amendment
protections to the digital realm.

A guide
(PDF) for school officials from the Missouri Attorney General’s
office on conducting reasonable searches and serious doesn’t
mention cellphones or electronic devices once, though is heavy on
when a search might be “reasonable.” The efforts in Missouri, and
around the country, certainly push back on the idea that reasonable
people shouldn’t reasonably expect privacy just because they use
modern technology.