Socha v. City of Joliet

Plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging multiple claims under federal and state law, including intrusion upon seclusion and that her Fourth Amendment rights were violated when an officer accessed a private photograph when executing a search warrant of plaintiff’s phone that was limited to electronic communications. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant police officer. The Seventh Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding that the defendant police officer was entitled to qualified immunity and, as a result, properly dismissed the plaintiff’s section 1983 claim but that the trial court erred when it dismissed the intrusion upon seclusion claim because a reasonable jury could find that the officer accessed the plaintiff’s photograph intentionally and without authorization. (ST. EVE and LEE, concurring)