Yeshiva World News

Lawmakers have agreed to create New York City identification cards that residents could get regardless of their immigration status. The measure would add the nation’s biggest city to a growing roster of cities that do so.

The City Council voted Thursday to create municipal ID cards. Mayor Bill de Blasio supports the idea.

The cards would be available to all city residents, but they’re aimed largely at helping the estimated 500,000 immigrants living illegally in the city. With the cards, they’d have government ID for some tasks that require it, such as opening a bank account or signing a lease.

The card likely would cost around $10, waived for people who couldn’t afford it.

Cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Haven, Connecticut, already offer such cards.

(AP)

A bomb was detonated earlier Friday morning, 29 Sivan 5774 near a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council area. Soldiers got into an exchange of gunfire with terrorists on the Gaza side of the border fence. B’chasdei Hashem there was no loss of life or injuries.

There is no additional information at this time.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The identity of the Hamas terrorists that kidnapped Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach was known to ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) officials about 24 hours after the event. The boys were abducted from Alon Shvut Junction in Gush Etzion on Thursday night the eve of 15 Sivan 5774.

On Thursday night the eve of 29 Sivan, two weeks later, officials announced to the nation that they are aware of the identity of the Hamas terrorists responsible.

With the gag order lifted it is permitted to publish the identity of the terrorists, Marwan Kawasmeh and Amar Abu-Eisha. Both are affiliated with Hamas in Hebron and they are veterans of Israel’s prison system.

Kawasmeh is 30 and his arrest record began in August 2004. He has since been arrested numerous times for his terrorist-related activities. Abu Isa is 32, married and with three children. He too has a long record, arrested in 2005, held in administrative detention and arrested other times as well. The two disappeared on the Thursday of the kidnapping, with Abu-Eisha telling his wife he was to go away for two to three days for work. Family members report the IDF was at their Hebron area home in the first days of Operation Brothers Return, and the terrorist’s father complained to the Israeli media, telling the press “soldiers slapped a family member in the head asking where Amar is”.

The operation continues as thousands of soldiers continue combing areas in the hope of locating the captives and the terrorists who abducted them.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again calls on PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to denounce Hamas and bring an end to the coalition agreement with the terrorist organization. In statements released to the media he said Israel has undisputable proof the two are involved in the kidnapping of the youths and that the IDF will continue until the boys are located.

In the interim, Abu Mazen has announced that if Israel releases all of the terrorists imprisoned in Israel, he will agree to resume negotiations.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

When the mothers of the captive youths heard the hunger striking terrorists imprisoned in Israel have decided to call off the hunger strike they were pained amid a realization the government and the Israel Prison Authority cut a deal with them. The hunger strike was observed for 64 days and the terrorists called it quits less than a week before the month of Ramadan begins. In the eyes of the mothers, while their sons are being held by Hamas terrorists the thought of negotiating with these hunger strikers is repulsive.

So what did the terrorists receive to end the hunger strike? This depends greatly on who one asks. According to Minister of Public Security Yitzchak Aharonovich whose office is responsible for the Israel Prison Authority, nothing. He insists the government did not negotiate and the hunger striking terrorists received nothing.

If one asks PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs Shuki Isa, Israel negotiated and “gave in to almost all of their demands”.

Government officials are saying that there were no negotiations and no deals. They add the hunger strikers began their protest in defiance of continued administrative arrests. Officials point out that the hunger strikers realized the arrests continue and their protests are in vain. It is stressed the government states the hunger strikers decided to call it quits on their own, without receiving any promises from state officials or agencies.

Government officials attribute the decision by the terrorists was prompted by the realization that Ramadan is going to begin in the coming days.

The three mothers arrived in Knesset on Wednesday, 27 Sivan for a meeting with MK (Bayit Yehudi) ` Muallem. ”It is our duty as MKs to meet three brave women such as you,” MK Muallem told Bat-Galim Shaar, Iris Yifrach and Rachel Frenkel. ”On the one hand, we`ve experienced 13 days of great pain, but on the other hand this is also a time of courageous spirit.”

Housing Minister Uri Ariel added, ”I’ve seen the powerful faith these families and the Jewish people have. Such wall-to-wall unity isn’t found everywhere in the world. We are coming to the conclusion that we are facing an enemy and we have to treat him as such. These are not just your sons, they are all our sons.”

Bayit Yehudi leader Minister Naftali Bennett added, “We have to do more, anything that can be used to achieve even tighter leverage,” Bennett continued. ”The next leverage is money. Thousands of Hamas terrorists are getting monthly salaries of 4,000-12,000 shekels ($1,162-$3,488) a month. If you murder a Jew, you profit from it. We now want an equation of ‘you act and you’ll pay for it.’ We are leaving no stone unturned to reach the boys. There’s nothing that we want to do that isn’t being done. The prime minister himself is dealing with the matter day and night.”

Mrs. Bat-Galim Shaar made no effort to hide her pain and anger. She explained that she awakened in the morning and listened to the news, and she could not believe her ears, that the government reached agreement with the prisoners to end the hunger strike. Bat-Galim Shaar said she had full trust in the system, but was surprised to learn of the agreement Israel reached with the hunger strikers to call off the hunger strike by administrative detainees. ”It can’t be that while our children still haven’t been found, the government makes an agreement with the prisoners,” she said. ”At a time when the Jewish people live fearfully in their land, the Palestinian people go about their routine. I call on the MKs to do everything they can to return our sons, and to the prime minister, I want to say: The people of Israel will judge you and the cabinet by the results.”

Mrs. Rachel Frenkel added “We are aware of the many troops out in the field doing their utmost and we thank them for this”.

Mrs. Iris Yifrach stated “I turn to you as mothers and MKs to assist us and make your voices heard so I sons may return home”.

The PA however insists a deal was reached, one that led to significant gain.

Names for Tehillim:

1. Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah

2. Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim

3. Eyal ben Iris Teshurah

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/portions of quotes from Knesset English site)

Strange bedfellows, indeed.

The Obama administration has found itself in a foreign policy and national security pickle of rare complexity with the apparent entry of Syria into the Iraq conflict on the side of the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad, as well as active Iranian military support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Washington already was toeing a delicate line with Shiite Iran, which the U.S. deems the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism, over their common short-term interest in turning back the advance of militant Sunni rebels in Iraq.

Now, to its dismay, Syrian President Bashar Assad — regarded in Washington as a pariah who should be ousted — has joined the club with what U.S. and Iraqi officials say are airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in western Iraq. ISIL had been fighting Assad in Syria before turning its major focus to seizing large swaths of northern Iraq.

Assad is being supported by Iran in his country’s own civil war with opposition forces, and a decision for Syria to hit ISIL on Iraqi soil is perhaps not surprising. While al-Maliki may not like Syrian attacks on Iraqi territory, “if it distracts the Islamic State from its trek toward Baghdad for a while, then they will welcome it,” said Robert Ford, former U.S. ambassador to Syria.

But as Iraq’s other immediate neighbors — Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — bolster their defenses, the new fighting threatens to unravel a byzantine balance of Mideast alliances and enmities that the United States long has sought to manage. The U.S. is deploying 300 special forces to train and advise the Iraqi army and is conducting surveillance flights. Iran is also flying surveillance drones over Iraq in aid of al-Maliki’s government, and on Tuesday, Syrian planes killed 17 people in a strike in Iraq’s mainly Sunni Anbar province, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

American and Iranian officials have had some direct discussions on the matter, though the administration has ruled out the prospect of direct military cooperation or coordination with Iran.

However, amid widespread concern, notably among Sunni Arab states and Israel, about the convergence of U.S., Iranian and Syrian policies on ISIL, President Barack Obama’s national security team has scrambled to produce a consistent and coherent message to the region. Administration officials said intervention by Syria was not the way to stem the insurgents, who have taken control of several cities in northern and western Iraq.

“We’ve made it clear to everyone in the region that we don’t need anything to take place that might exacerbate the sectarian divisions that are already at a heightened level of tension,” Secretary of State John Kerry said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. “It’s already important that nothing take place that contributes to the extremism or could act as a flash point with respect to the sectarian divide.”

At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest went further.

“The solution to the threat confronting Iraq is not the intervention of the Assad regime,” he told reporters. “In fact, it’s the Assad regime and the terrible violence that they perpetrated against their own people that allowed ISIL to thrive in the first place. The solution to Iraq’s security challenge does not involve militias or the murderous Assad regime, but the strengthening of the Iraqi security forces to combat threats.”

Administration officials have said repeatedly that the only way to resolve the crisis is for Iraqi leaders to come together and form a truly inclusive and representative government in which all three of the country’s main ethnic and religious groups — Sunni, Shiite and Kurd — have a voice.

Yet, it remains unclear if al-Maliki is willing to allow such an administration to be formed, and as long as the crisis continues, Gulf Arab countries with their long and deep distrust of Iran in particular are watching Iraq with increasingly dire concern.

Underscoring the urgency, Kerry, who traveled to Baghdad and the Kurdish city of Irbil this week, was to meet in Paris on Thursday with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Israel, plus the prime minister of Lebanon, to try to ease their fears and discuss how to attempt to coordinate a response. In another sign of how critical the situation has become, Kerry will then fly to Saudi Arabia on Friday to hold similar talks with King Abdullah.

Karim Sadjipour, an Iran expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the situation in Iraq, coupled with ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, have produced a “bizarre dynamic” in which the United States and Saudi Arabia appear to be “allies but not friends” and the United States and Iran appear to be “friends but not allies.”

The addition to the mix of Syria’s Assad is likely to further muddy the waters.

(AP)

Health Minister (Yesh Atid) Yael German announced on Wednesday, 27 Sivan 5774 that after about a year of deliberation and meetings, the committee she headed has decided private “Sharap” (שר”פ – שרות רפואה פרטי) medical care would not be offered in the nation’s public hospitals.

German is a supporter of the Sharap service and during the months of meetings she tried to persuade her colleagues to vote in favor of the option, a move she feel would improve the nation’s healthcare as well as shorten waiting lines for appointments with experts.

However the committee decided against it for it believes it is better for the masses to place more of the health care burden on the government instead of the private citizen.

Globes reports that “supporters of private medicine included German herself; Penina Koren, the former head of her office in the Herzliya Municipality; National Economic Council chairman Prof. Eugene Kandel; health economist Prof. Jacob (Kobi) Glazer; Ministry of Health director general Prof. Arnon Afek; and Israel Medical Association Secretary General Leah Wapner. Opponents included former Ministry of Health deputy director general Prof. Gabi Bin-Nun, Prof. Leah Achdut from the Ruppin Academy, Ministry of Finance deputy budgets director Moshe Bar Siman Tov, and Adv. Adi Niv-Yaguda, a specialist in medical law”.

If the Sharap plan would have been approved, it would have permitted choosing a specialist in a public hospital, which would also result in a shorter waiting period. Sharap is paid for by the patient, who may or may not have additional healthcare insurance to cover it. For example, a private visit today in Hadassah Hospital with a senior specialist under Sharap costs 1,150 NIS. Kupat Cholim Maccabi will reimburse a patient if s/he sees a senior physician whose name appears on the approved list in the amount of 80% or 616 shekels, whichever is lower.

Opponents feel that the top doctors are taking private patients during the hours they should be seeing HMO patients and therefore, those unable to pay for private medical care are left out in the cold with substandard care and long lines for an appointment or procedure.

In line with its decision, the committee has recommended to the national government to add 1 billion NIS to the annual health budget. The committee explains that if senior physicians in public hospitals will no longer have the Sharap option to boost their income, they will look for a position outside of Israel and the top doctors will be lost. To avoid this, the committee is calling for the budgetary increase which will be used in part to significantly raise the monthly salaries of senior physicians, which it believes should range from 60,000-100,000 NIS without having to see private patients. It is hoped this will encourage the physicians to agree to give up their private practice.

It should be pointed out that Sharap patients are not seen in a physician’s private office, but in the hospital complex, on the hospital’s time and resources.

Other points included in the committee’s decision include:

1. One will be permitted to select between 1 of 3 hospitals

2. 1 billion NIS will be infused into the healthcare system to shorten lines and improve the infrastructure of the public clinics and public pharmaceutical basket

3. Private care for tourists will continue but with a ceiling and stricter monitoring

4. Supplemental healthcare plans via a kupat cholim (HMO) will be eliminated with one will be offered other options and plans separately

5. A computerized system will assist residents in ascertaining if they have duplicate policies of needless policies

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The government wants to dramatically reduce the allowable height of buildings near hundreds of airports — a proposal that is drawing fire from real estate developers and members of Congress who say it will reduce property values.

The Federal Aviation Administration proposal, supported by airports and airlines, is driven by encroaching development that limits safe flight paths for planes that might lose power in an engine during takeoff. Planes can fly with only one engine, but they have less power to climb quickly over obstacles.

Airlines have to plan for the possibility that a plane could lose the use of an engine during takeoff even though that doesn’t happen very often. As more buildings, cellphone towers, wind turbines and other tall structures go up near airports, there are fewer safe flight paths available. Current regulations effectively limit building heights based on the amount of clearance needed by planes with two operating engines.

Airlines already must sometimes cut down on the number of passengers and the amount of cargo carried by planes taking off from airports in Burbank and San Jose in California, and in Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, and near Washington, D.C., among others, so they will be light enough to clear obstructions if only one engine is available, said Chris Oswald, vice president of the Airports Council International-North America.

The problem is exacerbated in hot weather when air is less dense and planes require more power during takeoff. Bigger planes that carry lots of passengers and cargo on lucrative international flights are especially affected.

Airports worry that the problem could cost airlines enough money that they’ll find some routes unprofitable and eliminate service, Oswald said.

The FAA’s proposal would change the way the agency assesses proposals to build new structures or modify existing structures near 388 airports to take into account the hazard that would be created to one-engine takeoffs. For example, under the proposal a building located 10,000 feet from the end of a runway would have a maximum allowable height of 160 feet instead of the current limit of 250 feet, according to an analysis by the Weitzman Group, a New York real estate consulting firm. As the distance from an airport increases, the allowable building height increases as well. The proposal could affect buildings as far as 10 miles from an airport.

Planes taking off usually follow one of about a half-dozen possible flight paths. To limit the number of buildings and other structures affected by the proposal, the FAA is recommending airports and local zoning boards work together to select a single flight path for each runway that planes can use in the event that an engine quits, said John Speckin, the FAA deputy regional administrator in charge of the proposal. The new height limits would only apply to structures in that path, he said.

“We’re trying to create a balance of the aviation needs and the development needs in the local community,” he said in an online briefing Wednesday.

But even with that limitation, thousands of existing and planned structures would be affected, said Peter Bazeli, who wrote the Weitzman analysis. Existing buildings along the path would not have to be altered, but a property owner who wanted to increase the height of a building or replace it with a taller building might be out of luck.

“Just one flight path could cover hundreds and hundreds of acres in densely developed areas,” Bazeli said. “You are going to be bumping up against some very valuable property rights.”

The FAA doesn’t have the authority to tell owners how high a building can be. But property owners near airports are supposed to apply to the FAA before construction for a determination on whether a proposed building or renovation presents a hazard to navigation. Erecting a building that the FAA says is a hazard is akin to building in a flood plain — insurance rates go up, mortgages are harder to get and property values decrease. Local zoning laws often don’t permit construction of buildings determined to be an aviation hazard.

The FAA’s proposal has created “a real estate and developer firestorm,” said Ken Quinn, a former FAA chief counsel who is representing several developers. “A single building can be worth $100 million and more. If you are talking about lopping off whole floors, you can ruin the economic proposition and you can destroy the viability of the building, so you are talking about easily a $1 billion in economic impact.”

Cellphone tower owners and operators are also concerned.

“A change in the maximum allowable height of infrastructure surrounding airports … could degrade wireless service coverage and capacity,” PCIA, a trade association for the wireless industry, said Wednesday in a letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members.

The real estate and wireless industries want the FAA proposal to be put through a formal rulemaking process, which can take years to complete. When an agency proposes a new rule, it also has to show that the benefits outweigh the cost to society. That makes it easier for industries to challenge the rule. FAA officials have chosen instead to treat the proposal as a policy change, eliminating the need to meet rulemaking requirements.

A bill recently introduced by Democratic Rep. Jim Moran, whose Northern Virginia district includes densely populated areas around Reagan National Airport near downtown Washington, would require the FAA to conduct a formal rulemaking. In a letter earlier this year to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Moran and three other lawmakers expressed concern that the proposal would have a “detrimental effect on the development and marketability of airports as well as hinder job creation and shrink the tax base of local governments.”

(AP)

Police continue the investigation against MK (Labor) Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who allegedly accepted bribes and failed to report sizable sums of income to tax authorities. Ben-Eliezer recently was compelled to drop out of the presidential race amid mounting allegations of illegal activities.

A second businessman was questioned by police, not Avraham Nanikashvili, explaining he gave the minister large sums of money in return for Ben-Eliezer using his close relationship with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to assist him in advancing business dealings in Cairo. The real estate developer told police he deposited hundreds of thousands of shekels into the MK’s bank account in addition to money that he used to buy a home. In return the real estate developer wanted a visa to Egypt and assistance in advancing business interests. Channel 2 News reported the money was given to the MK in 2011-2012.

Ben-Eliezer was questioned earlier this week by police of the 433 unit for a fourth time in connection to dealings with Avraham Nanikashvili, who allegedly gave him $350,000 towards the purchase of a Jaffa penthouse. That home is valued at 9 million shekels.

The FBI questioned Ben-Eliezer’s son Yariv, who the MK says is the owner of the $600,000 found in his safety deposit box in Jerusalem. Ben-Eliezer explains his son has been in the USA for decades and has become a very successful in his real estate dealings and the money belongs to him. Police in Israel have found contradictions in the testimony between the MK in Israel and his son’s statements to the FBI in the USA. It is likely that Ben-Eliezer will be questioned again in Israel.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Speaking to Israel Radio on Thursday morning, 29 Sivan 5774, Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett stated “It’s is time for everyone to realize that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is not just a terrorist, but a mega terrorist.

Bennett explained that Abu Mazen regularly funnels money to terrorists imprisoned in Israel as well as those released by Israel from prison.

Bennett said that Israel cannot continue to hide its head in the sand and address Abu Mazen as one yearning for peace. “He gives a monthly salary to the murderers of Police Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrachi HY”D and the Fogel family HY”D. A person who hands tens of millions in funding monthly to terrorist is not a terrorist, but a mega terrorist. He encourages and facilitates terrorism. He sends a clear message to his people, that murdering Jews is a profitable business”.

“Instead of allocating money for social services or education, Abu Mazen prefers to fund terrorism towards encouraging his people to murder Jews” concluded Bennett.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

On June 25th at approximately 4:00PM, Lakewood Police responded to the area of Congress Street to investigate a reported Robbery.

Upon arrival, the victim, a 28 year old Lakewood man, stated he was speaking to two males in the area of Laurel Avenue. At some point during the conversation, the males noticed that he had “a lot” of money on him.

One of the males struck him in the head with an unknown object and took approximately $3,000 from the victim before the both fled the area on foot.

Further investigation led to the discovery that the males got into a white vehicle a short distance away. That vehicle was located in front of a Laurel Avenue home a short time later.

20 year old Shakee Jackson of Brick was named as a suspect. Mr. Jackson has been charged with Robbery and has a $10,000 warrant for his arrest

The second suspect has not been identified at this time. Anyone with information is urged to contact Det. Joseph Gregg at 732-363-0200 ext. 5341.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel Fire Service Chief Shachar Ayalon told Israel Radio on Thursday morning that investigators are working to determine if the large Ein Kerem Forest blaze on Wednesday, 27 Sivan was the result of carelessness or arson.

Ayalon explained it was too early to make any announcements. He explained it is entirely possible that a camper did not properly extinguish a barbeque or it is possible that the huge blaze was arson, possibly a terror attack.

Five homes sustained heavy damage in the fire and dozens of others were evacuated in the Kiryat Yovel and Ein Kerem neighborhoods of the capital. Electricity was turned off to streets that were in the path of the fire as over 50 fire units and six firefighting planes battled to bring the fire under control. The fire commander released a message that the fire was under control at about 19:30, almost five hours after the blaze began. Five people were treated for minor smoke inhalation. B’chasdei Hashem there was no loss or life or serious injuries. 500 dunam (125 acres) of forestry was destroyed.

The fire department is moving to heightened alert over the weekend in the north amid forecasts of sharav weather conditions. Firefighting officials call on campers and visitors to be extremely cautious to prevent any and all fire from getting out of control.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Housing Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel was a guest of Economy Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Naftali Bennett at a Security Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 27 Sivan. Bennett decided that since the forum was leaning to the political left, he was going to bring Ariel to balance the political atmosphere.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked Ariel to leave since he is not a member of the Security Cabinet.

It is relevant to point out that in a meeting of the forum last week; PM Netanyahu brought Minister of Intelligence & Strategic Affairs Dr. Yuval Steinitz to a meeting. Yesh Atid leader Minister of Finance Yair Lapid brought Science Minister Yaakov Peri to a meeting as well. There were no reports of their guests being asked to leave.

When asked “what is he doing here” by the prime minister, Bennett responded “Ariel is here the same way Steinitz and Peri are here”, but that did not change the prime minister’s mind, insisting the housing minister leave. Mr. Netanyahu added that in the cases of Steinitz and Peri, their participation was discussed and approved in advance. They did not just walk in as Ariel did.

There was some discussion and eventually, Mr. Netanyahu pointed to the door and Bennett and Ariel left. Bennett returned alone a short time later.

Bennett told Israel Radio on Thursday morning 28 Sivan that he feels it is important to bring balance to the security cabinet and that is why he brought Ariel. He stated “however the most important thing is to bring the boys home and that is the bottom line”.

Bennett added “it is now clear to all that the Shalit deal was a colossal error, releasing hundreds of terrorists who are now in the streets murdering once again”.

Persons close to Bennett are angry over the incident and expect the prime minister to apologize to him. It is explained that in line with protocol, Bennett was incorrect in bringing a guest without clearing it in advance, even if the guest is a cabinet minister. In the case of the Security Cabinet, the prime minister decides who may and may not attend.

It is also added that Ariel, who never asked to attend, was not particularly upset, apparently aware of the realization he is not a member of that forum.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Officers are being briefed during roll calls, new procedures are in place, and prosecutors are considering the effect on potentially thousands of pending court cases after the Supreme Court’s ruling that restricts police searches of cellphones.

From Los Angeles to New York, and in San Diego, Chicago and Houston, officials met to discuss Wednesday’s unanimous ruling that could make it harder for officers to quickly find incriminating evidence. The ruling prohibits law enforcement from searching an arrestee’s cellphone without a warrant unless a person’s safety or life may be in danger.

Because cellphone technology has so rapidly advanced over the last decade, more information than ever before — including personal documents, photos and emails — is now stored on these devices. For investigators, they can be a treasure trove of suspects’ pictures with fellow gang members, not to mention text messages and call records that help police find accomplices or victims.

Few, if any, in law enforcement circles were surprised by the high court’s ruling, and they said many cautious investigators were already getting warrants to ensure evidence doesn’t get tossed out of trials. But they also universally acknowledged that it would make their jobs more difficult, especially for the rank-and-file patrol officer.

“It’s going to be more cumbersome, it’s going to take more work, it’s going to take more time,” said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Kent Wegener, of the Major Crimes Bureau. Wegener said his investigators routinely seek search warrants for their cases.

In Houston, prosecutors were already treating cellphones as personal property with privacy rights and advising police officers that if they weren’t given permission, they’d need a search warrant to access the devices, said Bill Exley, a prosecutor in the Harris County district attorney’s office.

The Constitution’s Fourth Amendment requires police generally to have a judge sign a warrant that’s based on “probable cause,” or evidence that a crime has been committed. But cellphones have been treated like any other item in an arrestee’s possession, meaning they could be examined to ensure the officer’s safety and prevent the destruction of evidence.

The Supreme Court’s decision examined two cases that arose after arrests in San Diego and Boston. In San Diego, police found indications of gang membership when they looked through a defendant’s smartphone, and prosecutors used video and photographs from the phone to persuade a jury to convict him of attempted murder and other charges. In Boston, police used the call log on an arrested man’s flip phone to lead them to his home, where they found drugs, a gun and ammunition.

Thousands of pending court cases could be altered or dropped because of what would now be considered illegally obtained evidence as a result of the decision, said Oregon defense attorney Bronson James, who authored an amicus brief for the plaintiffs. Whether that’ll happen is unclear, and prosecutors are working to limit the case’s retroactive impact.

The ruling may also ultimately challenge law enforcement’s use of other technology, James said, such as the U.S. government’s bulk data collection or the “Stingray,” a device that sweeps up cellphone data in a given area.

It can take anywhere from a few hours for a judge to sign off on a state search warrant to a few days for a federal one.

Though the ruling provides leeway for situations where a person’s safety or life is in danger, authorities have concerns about whether information or opportunities might be missed. The San Diego County district attorney’s office has had conversations with law enforcement on how to expedite search warrant requests when only a couple judges might be on call at night or over the weekend.

San Diego County’s chief deputy district attorney, Summer Stephan, said human traffickers often run their businesses from their cellphones, arranging prices and schedules for girls and customers by text message.

Though the ruling allows for emergency situations, “sometimes you don’t know if you have that until you look,” Stephan said. “You don’t know if the girl you were already able to rescue is the only girl until you look at the phone and see if there’s communication with another girl.”

The decision addresses worries that information may be erased remotely, allowing police to seize the cellphone and turn it off or remove its battery. Police can also place it in a special bag to isolate it from radio waves.

Many departments, including Michigan State Police, are already giving those bags to officers, said Douglas Godfrey, a former Kings County, New York, prosecutor. But the bags aren’t necessarily distributed widely to patrol officers or in great supply. Such new measures would require a financial investment and training.

“It certainly is true that if the police are just allowed to rummage through the cellphone of any arrestee without a warrant they can find all kinds of things that might be helpful,” said David Sklansky, a UC Berkeley law professor who’s written on Fourth Amendment issues. “The court recognizes that, but the court says that privacy is not costless. Sometimes honoring the Constitution means that law enforcement does not have advantages that it otherwise would have.”

(AP)