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Michigan Supreme Court Says Prisoner’s Possession of Cell Phone by Itself Doesn’t Show Threat to Security
Loaded on Oct. 31, 2022
by David Reutter
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2022, page 22
Filed under:
Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet.
Location:
Michigan.
by David M. Reutter
On April 28, 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court held that possession of a cell phone by a prisoner may not justify an enhanced sentence under the state criminal code unless the facts also establish that the prisoner’s conduct actually threatened prison security. That drew …
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More from this issue:
- COVID-19 Injunction Lapses in Oregon, Another Fails in Massachusetts, by Mark Wilson
- Unending ‘Crisis’ in San Diego County Jails: Hundreds Dead, Millions in Legal Payouts, by Jo Ellen Nott
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Maine Caps Price of Phone Calls in State Prisons and Jails, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- San Diego County Pays $250,000 After Detainee Suicide in County Jail, by Jayson Hawkins
- New Federal ‘Fresh Start’ Student Loan Policy May Help Prisoners in Default, by Matthew Clarke
- Excessive-Force Claim by Now-Incarcerated Former Maryland Guard Survives, by Harold Hempstead
- South Carolina Judge Halts State Executions by Electrocution and Firing Squad, by David Reutter, Edward Lyon
- Michigan Supreme Court Says Prisoner’s Possession of Cell Phone by Itself Doesn’t Show Threat to Security, by David Reutter
- Ohio County Pays $2.5 Million for Photographing Female Detainees’ Tattooed Private Areas, by Kevin Bliss
- San Diego County Pays $3.488 Million After Jail Detainee Dies in Cell Extraction, by Chuck Sharman
- Federal Judge Calls Out BOP’s ‘Plinko’ Tactics, Orders Surgeon Found for Trans Prisoner’s Gender-Confirming Procedure, by Jacob Barrett
- San Diego County Pays $8.1 Million After Jail Guard Fatally Shot Fleeing Detainee in the Back, by Chuck Sharman
- The Catalog of Carceral Surveillance: Tablet Advertising That Can Also Issue Discipline, by Dave Mass
- Rifles, Tasers and Jails: How Cities and States Spent Billions of COVID-19 Relief, by Anastasia Valeeva, Weihua Li, Susie Cagle
- North Dakota Prisoner’s Conviction for Assault on Guard Vacated Due To Erroneous Jury Instruction, by David Reutter
- DOJ Finds Unconstitutional Conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, by David Reutter
- Washington DOC Fined $84,000 for Health Code Violations Found After TB Outbreak, by Jacob Barrett
- Georgia Jail Settles Suit Filed by Mentally Ill Female Detainees With Policy Changes and $1.2 Million in Attorney Fees and Costs, by Matthew Clarke
- Tenth Circuit Vacates Oklahoma Prisoners’ Witness Tampering Conviction, by David Reutter
- Condemned Alabama Prisoner Now Spared Twice, by Chuck Sharman
- Gang Violence in Texas Federal Prison Results in Two Deaths, Nationwide BOP Lockdown, by Keith Sanders
- $6,000 Sanction for Mississippi Federal Prosecutor Who Lied to Court About COVID-19 Vaccination Status, by David Reutter
- Hawaii Governor Finally Appoints Coordinator for State DOC Oversight Commission, by Douglas Ankney
- Sentencing Reports Show Longer Sentences, Few Compassionate Releases, by Benjamin Tschirhart, Casey Bastian
- Tennessee Governor Suspends Executions, Orders Investigation Into Lethal Injection Process, by Harold Hempstead
- Seventh Circuit: Chicago Police Department’s 30-Day Claim-or-Forfeit Policy for Arrestee Property Is Constitutionally Adequate, by Casey Bastian
- Nebraska Supreme Court Says Revocation of Post-Release Supervision Does Not Bar Prisoner From Earning Good Time Credit, by David Reutter
- Over $386,000 Awarded to Mississippi Prisoner, Plus Hip Surgery He Was Denied, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Rules Federal Prisoner Need Only Know Item Is Prohibited To Support Conviction for Possession of Contraband, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin Pays $8,000 To State Prisoner After Seventh Circuit Revives Retaliation Claim Against Guard Over Destroyed Legal Documents, by David Reutter
- $215,000 Awarded to New Jersey Detainee Assaulted by Jail Guards, by Keith Sanders
- Fifth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Texas Jailers Who Refused Medical Care to Detainee Dying of Drug Overdose, by Matthew Clarke
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- Georgia Sheriff Agrees To Provide Muslim Prisoners With Halal Meals for Ramadan, by Jacob Barrett
- Wisconsin High Court Admits Into Evidence Secret Tape of Prisoner Made by Fellow Prisoner, by David Reutter
- Mississippi Attempts to Offload Prisoner Healthcare Costs Onto Medicaid, by Anthony Accurso
- $2.1 Million Settlement for Estate of Detainee Who Committed Suicide in Scandal-Plagued Ohio Jail, by David Reutter
- Alabama Prisoner Who Escaped With Jail Guard Lover Charged in Her Death on the Run, by Kevin Bliss
- Experimenting on Prisoners: New California Lawsuits Reveal Old Abuses, by Eike Blohm, MD
- Fifth Circuit Upholds Nearly $13.5 Million Restitution Order Against Federal Prisoner, by Anthony Accurso
- Maine Settles Suit Over COVID-19 Jobless Benefits Seized From Prisoners, by Jayson Hawkins
- News in Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026
- Nevada Prisoners, Families Call Out Predatory Tablet Program, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit: Error in Granting Judgment Prior to Adjudging Spoliation Motion, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026
- Michigan Appeals Court: Witnesses Cannot be Forced to Wear Jail Clothes at Trial, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Postconviction Forensic Testing Statute Permits Digital Forensic Analysis of Cellphones, Holding Chapter 278A Not Limited to Tangible Evidence Testable for Biological Material, Aug. 1, 2026. Forensic Sciences, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Failure to Consult/Investigate/Raise, Relevance.
- Passive Data Transforms Smart Devices Into Covert Witnesses in a Silent Surveillance State, July 1, 2026. Forensic Sciences, Police State-Surveillance, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Electronic Surveillance, Exclusionary Rule.
- Oregon Supreme Court Announces Article I, Section 9, of State Constitution Protects Privacy in Internet Browsing Conducted Over Public Wi-Fi Networks, April 1, 2026. Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Warrantless Searches, Electronic Surveillance, State Constitutional Claims, Suppression.
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court): No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Unprotected Google Searches, Jan. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Probable Cause, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Privacy Act/Rights, State Constitutional Claims.
- Protecting Your Digital Privacy, Oct. 15, 2025. Police State-Surveillance, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Cell-Phone Location/Tracking Data, Electronic Surveillance, Digital Devices.
- Michigan Supreme Court Announces Guidance on Standards for Search Warrants of Cellphones to Satisfy Particularity Requirement of Fourth Amendment That “Reasonably Direct” Search to Uncovering Evidence of Criminal Activity Identified in Warrant, Oct. 15, 2025. Particularity Requirement, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Cell-Phones, Warrants - General Search, Failure to Preserve Challenge.
- Federal Government Circumventing Fourth Amendment by Buying Data From Data Brokers, April 15, 2025. Databases, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Immigration Law/Offenses, Fourth Amendment.
- Porn Produced by Georgia Prisoners, April 1, 2025. Guard Misconduct, Prison Gangs, Prison Rape Elimination Act, Internet, Pornography/Pornography Laws, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Criminal Sexual Abuse.
- How Online Behavioral Ads Fuel Mass Surveillance, March 15, 2025. Internet, Police State-Surveillance, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Electronic Surveillance.
- Government Hacks Computers to Thwart Hackers, March 15, 2025. Computer Searches, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet.

