Constitutional law professor Noah Feldman writes:
Wall Street Journal reporter Maria Abi-Habib made waves in journalistic circles last month after she posted on Facebook that Department of Homeland Security officials tried to seize her phones as she entered the U.S. at Los Angeles International Airport.
What was striking about her post was that Homeland Security’s demand (which it eventually gave up) was probably lawful and certainly constitutional. Under established U.S. Supreme Court precedent, there is an exception to the Fourth Amendment privacy right when you are at the border entering or leaving the country.
Read his full commentary on The Commercial Appeal.