Police won’t return cellphone seized during Black Lives Matter protest, CA lawsuit says
The San Diego Police Department still hasn’t returned a woman’s phone seized during a Black Lives Matter protest in September, she alleges in a new lawsuit.
According to the federal lawsuit filed Thursday, Christina Griffin-Jones alleges San Diego police arrested her during a Sept. 23 protest against the police shooting of Breonna Taylor. Griffin-Jones’ cell phone was seized when she was arrested, and most of her possessions, except her phone, were returned to her when she was released, the lawsuit says.
McClatchy News has reached out to the San Diego Police Department for comment but hasn’t received a response.
Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the police department on Sept. 24 calling for the return of phones seized during a different protest on Aug. 28 in San Diego. They argued that a warrant is required to search a phone and seizing property for “prolonged or indefinite periods of time” without a warrant is unconstitutional.
“For the foregoing reasons, any policy providing for the continued seizure of protesters’ cell phones after their release from county jails likely violates protesters’ due process rights and the Fourth Amendment,” the attorneys wrote. “We therefore respectfully request that the jails or police immediately return any cell phones that have been seized from protesters who have been released, or to explain the severe extenuating circumstances that would justify continued seizure.”
San Diego police spokesman Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said in response to the letter: “Cell phones which are impounded as evidence will remain in our custody and if the contents are going to be sought, a detective will request a search warrant from a judge as required by law,” according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The lawsuit alleges that the police department said it would start returning phones taken from protesters but hasn’t returned Griffin-Jones’ phone.
“It is important to understand that what happened to our client is not an isolated incident. The illegal seizure of protesters’ cell phones now appears to be a common practice and a tool for repression,” said Geneviéve Jones-Wright, one of Griffin-Jones’ attorneys and director of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance.
