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A 13-year-old's phone was searched at school without a warrant and with a police officer standing right there. Evidence from the search was used to criminally charge the teen. The Fourth Circuit said this was fine. We think the Supreme Court should say otherwise. 🧵

Back in 2014, Riley v. California said police generally need a warrant to search a cellphone—even during an arrest. The Court noted that phones hold your whole digital life, not just what's in your pocket.

Schools have their own exception: T.L.O. (1985) lets administrators search students and their belongings without a warrant if the search is reasonable and tied to school discipline. This makes sense for backpacks and lockers.

But courts keep applying T.L.O. to cellphones like nothing has changed since 1985—often without even mentioning Riley.

This application of old rules to new technology bypasses the exact procedure Riley demanded: Courts have to actually reassess whether an old exception still makes sense when it’s a cellphone—not a notebook—that’s being searched.