Ban on police cell phone searches in texting-while-driving cases advances

Police would be restricted in most cases from retrieving information from cell phones and similar devices for violation of texting-while-driving laws under a measure that passed the Indiana Senate on Thursday.

Senate Bill 156 moved to the Indiana House on a 49-0 vote. The proposal would prohibit police officers from extracting information from a cell phone in such cases without the owner’s consent, probable cause, a warrant or unless otherwise authorized by law.

The Senate on Thursday also moved these law enforcement bills to the House:

• SB 142, which increases the statute of limitations for a civil action and for certain criminal prosecutions based on child sexual abuse. The measure moved to the House on a 49-0 vote.
• SB 400, which would create a Class A misdemeanor for a federal official to enforce the indefinite detention provision of the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act and prohibit state actors from aiding in the indefinite detention without trial of any citizen. The measure passed the Senate 31-17.