Student-Led Constitution Day Event Considers Cell Phone Searches

In a Constitution Day event that focused on the timely topic of cell phone and other electronic searches, UNC Charlotte student leaders in mid-September moderated an in-depth discussion with legal professionals.

“We wanted to make sure that the student population that attended the event got their juices flowing on the topic, started to think how it affects them, how it could affect them, and how it could affect their family,” said Christopher Estrada, president of Alpha Phi Sigma and one of the four student moderators. Alpha Phi Sigma is the National Criminal Justice Honor Society.

The panelists and moderators considered a spring U.S. Supreme Court decision on police searches of electronic devices in the case of arrests and emergencies. The decision has raised issues related to the Fourth Amendment prohibition of searching and seizing evidence without a warrant.

“The student moderators did an excellent job,” said panelist Scott Broyes, a professor of law at the UNC Charlotte School of Law. “We covered almost all the issues you could consider. (Their involvement) created more spontaneous engagement. The students can relate to their peers.”

Student Perspective Adds Relevance for Attendees

Audience member and student Jason Rines, who is pursuing his master’s degree in ethics and applied philosophy and who earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from UNC Charlotte, found the remarks to be relevant to students.

“I liked having the theoretical and more pragmatic perspectives,” Rines said. “Having the student moderators definitely brought up things that were more pertinent to our generation.”

Estrada and the other students worked with Kathleen Nicolaides, J.D., senior lecturer in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department and Pre-Law and Academic Advisor, to plan the annual event on Sept. 17 in McKnight Hall. The panel discussion recognized the American federal observation of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. This was the first year students have moderated the panel, asking questions about the recent court case, its impact on the law and its relationship to the Fourth Amendment.

“They’ve never had a student panel in the past,” said Shayleen Morris, Pre-Law Society president. “It’s usually just been the pre-law president introducing the panel and then the panel goes into a discussion, while Professor Nicolaides moderates. We had to make sure we are in sync with each other, we had to make sure we knew the information, knew what we were going to ask, and most importantly, we had to make sure that we made this a group effort and not one person dominated.”

Other moderators were Brittany Nunn, the president of the Business Honors Program, and Casey Aldridge, who represented the Levine Scholars Program.

Words: Brittany Algiere, student communications assistant, CLAS Communications Office