Should Police Wipe a Criminal's Cellphone Before Returning It?–U.S. vs. Stathas

In U.S. v. Stathas, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld police authority to wipe a convicted sex offender's cellphone data before returning it to him, finding that the government's interest in removing sexually explicit material involving a minor and the victim's identifying information justified the digital erasure. The defendant argued that non-criminal data on the phone should be preserved for personal reasons or potential civil litigation, but the court ruled that no less invasive procedure could adequately remove all harmful material from the device.