'From the caution: pants may contain internet history department'

Techdirt reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the ACLU of Texas have filed an amicus brief with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in a case Grits highlighted last year. The Amarillo Seventh Court of Appeals ruled the search of an arrestee's cell phone in jail violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches. The Amarillo court opined that, "While assaults upon the Fourth Amendment and article I, § 9 of the United States and Texas Constitutions regularly occur, the one rebuffed by the trial court here is sustained. A cell phone is not a pair of pants." Despite agreement by the trial judge and the appellate court, the CCA granted cert to consider whether they think the search should be allowed. Tea-leaf readers might note that there's no reason for them to take the case unless some members wanted to overturn it. See the Techdirt piece for more details and a copy of the amicus brief.