SCOTUS sometimes more liberal on criminal law issues than California’s Supreme Court

The U. S. Supreme Court recently disagreed with the California Supreme Court on the issue of cell phone privacy, holding that police must get a warrant to search an arrested suspect’s cell phone.  Emily Green reports in today’s Daily Journal [subscription required] that the cell phone issue is not the only one where the country’s high court has taken a more defendant-friendly position than the state high court.  This could change with Governor Brown’s opportunity to reshape the California court.  One area where new appointments to the court might make a difference is in reviewing claims of racial discrimination in jury selection, an issue where Justice Liu is on record as saying that the court’s “jurisprudence . . . appears noticeably out of step with principles set forth by the United States Supreme Court.”