Benzie County Undersheriff Greg Hubers explained the purpose of Proposal 20-2 on the November ballot. Proposal 20-2 would amend the Michigan Constitution to clarify that with limited exceptions a search warrant is needed for an officer to search for electronic data.
Proposal 20-2 was added to the ballot with the unanimous consent of the Michigan Legislature. Under the proposal if a person does not consent to an officer's request to search the person's cell phone, the officer is with limited exceptions required to go a judge or magistrate to establish why a search warrant is justified.
The proposal does not change common police practice but does clarify the need for a search warrant with respect to electronic data. In the Q&A session Greg described how electronic data is obtained from a cell phone when the owner refuses to provide his or her password.