Can teachers legally search through your phone?
Tough question. There are a lot of factors involved: the phone probably doesn’t belong to the student (if the student is a minor, the contract is in the parent’s name and the parents can give consent to a search), the type of information (there are various layers of laws covering different aspects of the information on a phone—call logs and text messages, for instance, are protected by Federal law, and failure to observe proper law can run afoul of Federal wiretapping statutes, which have penalties up to twenty years in Federal prison and/or a $100,000 fine); and the expectation that schools can act “in loco parentis.”The differing legal jurisdictions are interesting. In Florida, for instance, Florida Statute 1006.09 specifically allows schools to search students’ property in some circumstances. However, and this is a big “however,” a state can not permit something that’s illegal on a Federal level, and anti-wiretapping statutes are Federal, not state. (The statute doesn’t mention cell phones, but Florida courts have ruled that cell phones count as “property.”)If a parent gives consent to the search, there’s likely nothing the student can do. On the other hand, an enterprising student whose phone is searched without consent might, if call or text message information is exposed during the search, be able to file a Federal anti-wiretapping complaint, and the teachers and/or school administrators might find themselves looking down the barrel of two decades in a Federal penitentiary. It would be fascinating to see what wold happen if a school did this, dug through a student’s text messages, and then the student and/or the student’s parents decided to make a test case out of it.The ACLU has sued school districts for searching cell phones, and schools have settled.ACLU Settles Student-Cell-Phone-Search Lawsuit With Northeast Pennsylvania School DistrictFederal courts have ruled against schools that have searched students’ phones.Judge Rejects Administrators' Search of Student's CellphoneMany lawsuits have been filed all over the US against schools that have searched students’ phones.If I were a schoolteacher, I sure as hell wouldn’t do it. A shitty, underpaid public job isn’t worth risking a Federal felony conviction. But that’s me.
How do I legally keep my teachers from taking my phone?
Shhh… I shouldn't do this as it may well get me stripped of my teacher’s license and be completely ostracised by the teaching fraternity.I will let you in on a very deep secret that only teachers know that will prevent your teachers from ever taking your phone again.Every phone has a secret button that makes the phone completely invisible to teachers - this is why we don't want anyone to know about it. We absolutely hate this button.By now I'm sure you're desperately wanting to know what button you need to press on your phone so it becomes invisible to teachers.It's this one:........On an iPhone it's:I guarantee that if you press that button at the start of the school day, your teacher will never notice your phone ever again.
Can the police legally demand me to open a locked safe in my car? Can it be confiscated?
There’s a lot of circumstances that the question doesn’t ask.I will provide 2 concluding scenarios to arrive at 2 different answers.1: IT’S A ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOP, and you have a safe on the back seat. The officer says he wants to search you and your vehicle, you say no. THE OFFICER ONLY HAS THE RIGHT TO SEARCH if he feels you may be possessing a weapon which puts his life in danger. A locked safe does not put his life in danger, thus he has no right to search. Cops search cars illegally all the time, so the best thing you can do is exercise your rights to privacy and tell them no. Unfortunately saying no is suspicious and reason to call a drug dog. As long as you have no drugs in the car or safe, they can do that and with no drug scent hit they can’t search the car. Consider, cops will exercise THEIR rights to break the law to violate your rights without a trial, so put up a fight democratically as possible and just tell them no they don’t have permission to search your vehicle. I always try to act impressed when they want to search, I ask “I wasn’t aware I was so intimidating an armed officer would think I capable of trying to take their life, maybe I should go to the gym a little less.”2: IT’S A PARKED CAR IN YOUR DRIVEWAY AND POLICE ARRIVE WITH A WARRANT, they are going to want to search your entire property to the best of their abilities, including your car and the safe inside the car.