Senate Candidate and Former ACLU of Maine Executive Director Shenna Bellows Statement on Supreme Court Cell Phone Warrant Ruling

Statement

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and former ACLU of Maine Executive Director Shenna Bellows released the following statement today on the Supreme Court ruling in Riley v. California that cell phones are generally protected from police searches without a warrant. Bellows was instrumental in passing two groundbreaking 2013 Maine laws to protect cell phone users from law enforcement overreach.

Last year, with the ACLU of Maine's support and urging, the state legislature passed laws requiring police to obtain a warrant before tracking a user's location via their cell phone and to require a warrant to access cell phone text and email communications. The ACLU of Maine has a rundown of those laws and a related effort to limit domestic drone surveillance here.

"Today's unanimous ruling is an important victory for the Constitution and our fundamental right to privacy in the digital age," Bellows said. "The Patriot Act and other overreaching federal laws have created a climate in which Americans no longer feel protected from governmental intrusion, even in their own homes or during private conversations. I was proud to be a leader in pushing back against that overreach at the state level, and building coalitions to restore our Constitutional freedoms will be one of my top priorities in the Senate. My opponent, Republican Susan Collins, voted for the Patriot Act and hasn't done enough to rein in the security state that law unleashed. The Supreme Court sent a strong message today that the Founders never intended the government to sacrifice our freedoms for bureaucratic convenience or a false sense of security. Congress should act accordingly."

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