Amissibility of Text Messages in Court

With the rise of the internet, some people argue that privacy no longer exists. From the 2013 revelations of government surveillance of citizens’ communications to companies that monitor their employees’ internet usage, this argument seems to be increasingly true. Yet, Harvard Law professor Charles Fried states that privacy, “is necessarily related to ends and relations of the most fundamental sort: respect, love, friendship and trust” (Fried 477). However, Fried is not arguing that in a world where privacy, in its most simple terms, is becoming scarce that these foundations of human interactions are also disappearing. Instead, Fried expands on the traditional definition of privacy while contesting that privacy, although typically viewed

Issue. The appellant wanted a new trial stating that new evidence were discovered. However, the appeal was denied by the court.

5 Ways You Give The Government Control” written by Kenneth Coats shows how the devices we use daily slowly take over individuals lives. Coats states, “Today, most people in the United States carry a mobile phone that accompanies them wherever they go. We use them for everything...This essentially makes them the perfect tracking and bugging devices”. Although electronic devices are known to be safe, they allow outside people to figure out individuals personal life. Due to the need for devices such as cell phones, each individual has a high chance of being socially stalked once in their lifetime. Coats then states, “Not only do intelligence agencies gather information via mobile companies, but… your phone can be hacked using spyware. Even if your phone is turned off, it can be remotely accessed to recorded conversations and take photographs”. This issue causes a panic due to the wide spread of inappropriate pictures and private conversations in one's life. Even though technology is viewed as a privileged, it is also taking away people's lives without their

The Age of Technology we currently inhabit is one that I truly believe will be reflected upon as the greatest [age] of all time by the time it is over. I say this because of the sheer amount of technological developments we have at our disposal, the revolutionary breakthroughs we have made, and in sheer awe of the of the amount of potential possibilities that we have at our disposal to unlock and grant the future. Although, we are amidst a great age of time, there are still flaws apparent throughout that still continue to linger unwanted by many- myself included. One such flaw that has continued to plague us with its existence is law enforcement’s along with the U.S government’s abrupt favoritism of invading our privacy by utilizing

An appeal is a process that assists someone who is being charged with a crime, also known as a defendant. An appeal gives the defendant the opportunity to use a higher court to over-turn a lower court’s decision. ”The appeals process is part of the system of “checks and balances” designed to ensure that defendants have received due process at ear- lier stages of the criminal justice process.” (The Courts in Our Criminal Justice System, Meyer & Grant, Pg. 465) An appeal is also a defendant’s way of challenging the court’s ruling. Appeals only take place after a criminal is found guilty and sentenced, if the appeal is successful the criminal will be released from incarceration

Telephone is a telecommunications device used to communicate between two or more people in any distance. Primarily telephones were used only for communication purposes but today telephones are as powerful and useful as computers are. With the evolution of phones, many things have changed which includes phone records. In past, phone records involved only phone numbers but today there is so many data and information on phones. These records include phone numbers, bank information, personal pictures and videos, location and text messages. These records are often used by law enforcers to investigate crimes by gathering information from phone records. Since 1970 many things has changed. This paper examines the technological differences between phone records in the 1970 and smartphones, privacy and how courts affect the technology.

In order to be able to appeal, we have to find out if there was a legal error that occurred in the trial court, and that such an error was material, thus, it would have changed the outcome of the trial.

Texting is a popular form of communication, therefore it is no surprise that the courts today are confronted with the question of a whether a text message should be admitted as evidence at a trial. The answer is not so simple, since many factors must be considered in order to allow this. Such as, how did the court come about knowing of the text message? Did the police find it? Did they go through the accused’s phone without consent? Was this unlawful? Did this violate the accused’s charter right? All these factors must be addressed, in order to establish the admissibility of a text message to be entered in as evidence. Another factor that must be considered is the authenticity of the text message. For example how do you show that the text message from Jane Doe is actually from Jane Doe? The answer is not as simple as stating “it is because it came from her phone”. Further verification is needed to prove that the text message did indeed originate from Jane Doe. Another factor that must be taken into account is the fact that text messages can be easily manipulated. Tempering with mobile devices is not something new, and in today’s day and age you can even find tutorials on the internet that assist you in learning this technique. For example, by simply typing in “app to create fake text messages” in google I was presented with 5,750,000 results within 47 seconds. This is something the courts must keep in mind when allowing a text message to be entered in as evidence.

Government surveillance in the past was not a big threat due to the limitations on technology; however, in the current day, it has become an immense power for the government. Taylor, author of a book on Electronic Surveillance supports, "A generation ago, when records were tucked away on paper in manila folders, there was some assurance that such information wouldn 't be spread everywhere. Now, however, our life stories are available at the push of a button" (Taylor 111). With more and more Americans logging into social media cites and using text-messaging devices, the more providers of metadata the government has. In her journal “The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit”, Anita L. Allen, an expert on privacy law, writes, “Contemporary technologies of data collection make secret, privacy invading surveillance easy and nearly irresistible. For every technology of confidential personal communication…there are one or more counter-technologies of eavesdropping” (Allen 1). Being in the middle of the Digital Age, we have to be much more careful of the kinds of information we put in our digital devices.

Whenever an appellate court reverses a trial court decision, it instructs that court to rehear the case using the correct law and procedures. If the court sees that a “gross miscarriage of justice” is being done or that an error was obviously committed, they will usually overturn the trial court’s decision (Coffin, 85). In the vast majority of cases, the decision of a Court of Appeal is final. The state Supreme Court does not review the vast majority of cases – it steps in to resolve new or disputed questions of law. It is also the highest state appellate court for civil matters (supreme.courts.state

While Swartz and Allen agree that the use cell phone tracking logs must be monitored and used cautiously, they strongly disagree on the role cell phone companies, law enforcement and government are playing in monitoring the use of the technology. I find Swartz’s view to be based in logic and not emotion. The view that Swartz presents is more balanced. She believes that the government and judicial system are working diligently to ensure that the rights of citizens are protected. In this article Swartz does not seem to recognize the invasion of privacy that this technology poses, she also seems to ignore the way that police and state could abuse the technology.

Social media, emails, instant messaging and even video chats are subject to being tapped. In 2006 AT&T admitted to releasing internet activities to law enforcers. On top of the internet, what we watch on television can be monitored as well. Lastly as smartphones have become more and more prominent, law enforcement has been viewing the data stored onto these devices such as audio, pictures and text

As the world, today is getting high tech, especially with our phones that we have in hands almost twenty-four seven. Withholding special memories, videos, pictures, everything that we consider personal information. But there all comes a time when the government needs to step in and encrypt our phones for future evidence whenever needed in crimes taking place. However, we may not always agree having a backdoor to our phones, allowing the government to go towards phone companies asking to make a utensil to unlock our personal data. Nevertheless, we should allow them to encrypt our phones but for only evidence use during a crime that is partaking in a present time. Without it we may prosecute the wrong person or maybe some crimes may not be able to be solved and turns out to be a cold case with no closure for loved ones.

In this new informational era, digital technology has developed to the point where we can both receive and send information in an instant. The internet allows its users to do incredible things, from receiving instant information to tracking someone using only their phone. With the development of newer, more modern technology, the government has begun to find new ways to track criminals, follow our every move, and, subsequently, keep the peace. However, in doing this, Americans relinquish the privacy within their hand held, pocket devices. A complex web of opinions surround the controversial topic of accessibility regarding personal technology. Ultimately, how should digital surveillance in the United States of America be implemented?

Computerized security is more immensely perceived than before as the amounts of individuals rely upon phone exchanges to do commitments including their individual data and identity. Outrageous computerized resources by law breakers and fear based oppressors around the world have encouraged in uncovering issues of the direness for extreme security systems to ensure assurance and data security. The examination will deal with a watchful evaluation of mobile phones despite their surfacing in the overall population. Rapidly analyzing the verifiable scenery of phones is urgent in understanding the estimations showing the addition of computerized resources and improvement of compact handling to