Constitution Day panel to explore cell phone searches

“Can the Police Search Your Cell Phone?” is the topic for the annual Constitution Day panel discussion scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 17, in Cone University Center, McKnight Hall.

Scott Broyes, a professor at the Charlotte School of Law, and Brent Foushee, a detective with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, will be the panelists for this event. Student moderators will be Casey Aldridge, representing the Levine Scholars Program; Christopher Estrada, president of the criminal justice honor society Alpha Phi Sigma; Shayleen Morris, president of the University’s Pre-law Society; and Brittany Nunn, president of the Business Honors Program.

Broyes will discuss the Fourth Amendment and related U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding the search and seizure of cellular phones and electronic evidence. An accomplished political science expert, he was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina specializing in white collar crime.

Foushee, who completed a master’s degree in criminal justice and criminology from the University, will describe how electronic evidence is gathered during police searches/investigations. He is a 26-year veteran of the CMPD and has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department.

Kathleen Nicolaides, senior lecturer in criminal justice and criminology, will host this Constitution Day event, sponsored by the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the Pre-law Society and the Division for Academic Affairs.