{"id":8238,"date":"2026-08-02T16:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8238"},"modified":"2026-08-02T16:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:08:21","slug":"an-airport-search-a-wiped-phone-and-a-potential-test-of-fourth-amendment-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8238","title":{"rendered":"An airport search, a wiped phone and a potential test of Fourth Amendment protections"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n In a small room at the Atlanta International Airport, without a warrant and ignoring his protest and requests for his attorney, a left-wing activist and US citizen says Border Patrol officers started to search his devices, luggage and diary.\n <\/p>

Read more I\u2019ve been journaling for more than 20 years. Here are 33 of my favorite journaling supplies<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Sam Tunick, involved in the Stop Cop City movement, which opposed an 85-acre law enforcement training center in Georgia that opened in April 2025, was returning from a vacation in the Dominican Republic in January of that year when Border Patrol officers, coordinating with the FBI, pulled him aside, according to his lawyers.\n <\/p>\n

\n After refusing to answer questions, the officers began searching Tunick and the items eventually asking for access to his phone, Tunick and the prosecutors say. According to prosecutors, Tunick then gave officers a passcode that wiped the contents of the device.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tunick was charged that November with a single count of destroying property to prevent seizure. He has pleaded not guilty and has not been charged with any additional crimes.\n <\/p>\n

\n Experts told CNN the case could be a toehold to challenge how Fourth Amendment protections, which generally prohibit search and seizures without probable cause, are weakened at the US border and entry points into the US, including international airports.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that the Fourth Amendment doesn\u2019t apply at the border,\u201d white-collar criminal defense attorney Paul Calli told CNN. \u201cIt\u2019s that there\u2019s no requirement for reasonable suspicion, like there would be not at the border.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Warrantless search\n<\/h2>\n

\n Tunick\u2019s lawyers say agents told him that he was suspected of possessing child pornography before they demanded access to his phone. But during a hearing last week on efforts to suppress evidence and testimony gathered during the search, CBP agents admitted there was no reason to suspect Tunick possessed child sex abuse material, according to his attorneys.\n <\/p>\n

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\nPolice must obtain a warrant when seeking sweep of cellphone location data, Supreme Court rules<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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\n \u201cThey were unequivocal that no, we had no reason to think that was applicable to Sam, it was part of our shtick to sort of get him to open up,\u201d Tunick\u2019s attorney Matthew Dodge told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n CBP said agents have authority to search the devices of anyone entering the US \u201cregardless of citizenship.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite Tunick\u2019s protest and refusal to allow such a search, the officers still went through his luggage and personal journal before turning to his phone, according to his attorneys.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tunick said he also repeatedly directed the officers to his lawyer\u2019s business card, which he was carrying.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBecause you\u2019re refusing to talk, which is your right, we have the authority to go through your phone to see what we\u2019re looking for,\u201d one of the officers said, according footage of the incident provided to Tunick\u2019s attorneys.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN has not reviewed the footage.\n <\/p>\n

\n When he asked for a second time why he was not allowed to contact his lawyer, Tunick was told that \u201cwhen it comes to immigration and customs, right, it\u2019s a whole different ballgame.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have search authority, we don\u2019t need a warrant,\u201d Tunick was told, according to his lawyer\u2019s March court filings.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tunick\u2019s attorneys also allege their client was never read his Miranda rights nor given the chance to have a lawyer present.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSam\u2019s big interest here was protecting his privacy, not hiding evidence of wrongdoing,\u201d Dodge said.\n <\/p>

Read more What a new Justice Department filing says about the \u2018botched\u2019 Reflecting Pool renovation<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Tunick\u2019s attorneys claimed in a March court filing the search was conducted because of his involvement the group opposing law enforcement training facility.\n <\/p>\n

\n As it was being constructed, the facility was a hot spot for protests and, at times, violent clashes with police. Authorities charged dozens of activists allegedly associated with the protests. Law enforcement shot a man 57 times in January 2023 after they say he opened fire at officers near the facility.\n <\/p>\n

\n Border exemptions and questions of obstruction\n<\/h2>\n

\n When asked about the case, CBP told CNN it has the authority to search all electronic devices for people, regardless of citizenship, coming or leaving the US, \u201cto enforce laws addressing terrorism, child exploitation, drug- and human-smuggling, visa fraud, and national security threats.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The statement continued: \u201cThe border search will only include an examination of information that is present on the device at the time it is presented for inspection. In Fiscal Year 2025, less than 0.01% of all arriving international travelers had their electronic devices searched by CBP.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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\n The limits of that authority, however, could be challenged with cases like Tunick\u2019s.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe are hopeful that this general rule, that the Fourth Amendment doesn\u2019t apply at the border, (has) just got to be revised and corrected,\u201d Dodge said. \u201cAnd this is a pretty vivid example of why it that rule is far too broad.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt has to be much more tailored rule about the Fourth Amendment at the airports,\u201d Dodge added.\n <\/p>\n

\n In speaking broadly about warrantless seizure, Nathan Freed Wessler, the American Civil Liberties Union\u2019s deputy director for the foundation\u2019s speech, privacy, and technology project told CNN that several \u201ccases pending in a few courts of appeals now where this question is really live.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cA couple federal courts of appeals have imposed more stringent limitations than the government was,\u201d Wessler added. \u201cAnd there are a handful of federal district court judges who have actually gone the whole way and said a warrant is required because this is such a privacy imposition.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The appeals court that will have jurisdiction over Tunick\u2019s case \u2014 the 11th Circuit \u2014 however, has previously ruled that phones and electronic devices don\u2019t have greater protections than a suitcase or handbag, despite the vast amount of personal information stored in those devices, Wessler noted.\n <\/p>\n

\n Questions also remain over whether giving law enforcement a passcode that strips your device of information constitutes obstructing an investigation.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cObstruction means I\u2019m obstructing some type of investigation, and without any type of warrant or even reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, what investigation am I obstructing?\u201d Mike Fox, a legal fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, a think-tank focused on issues of civil liberties, told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n Fox noted that it\u2019s unclear what recourse federal agents would have if a person refused to hand over their phone passcode in a similar, warrantless search.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey\u2019re not going to deny entry because he\u2019s a US citizen,\u201d he said. \u201cBut are they going to charge him with some type of obstruction or take his device?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is new, uncharted territory,\u201d Fox added.\n <\/p>\n

\n According to his attorneys, Tunick was told by officers that if he didn\u2019t comply, they would take his phone and access it by other means.\n <\/p>\n

\n The judge overseeing the case issued a deadline for final preliminary court filings in late October.\n <\/p>

Read more The fight for Michigan: How a marquee Senate primary became the Democrats\u2019 latest proxy war<\/a><\/p>\n

\n No trial date has been set.\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a small room at the Atlanta International Airport, without a warrant and ignoring his protest and requests for his attorney, a left-wing activist and US citizen says Border Patrol officers started to search his devices, luggage and diary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nAn airport search, a wiped phone and a potential test of Fourth Amendment protections - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8238\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An airport search, a wiped phone and a potential test of Fourth Amendment protections - 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