The ECPA says that no, they can't be monitored because it's against the law to
do so.

However, in reality they can. I wonder how many U.S. citizens who live in the
Detroit area (who were also scanner listeners) purposely drove to Windsor,
Ontario (where it's legal to listen to cell phone calls on a scanner) and
listened to cell phone calls coming from Detroit while they were in Windsor?

just to legally thwart the ECPA and stick their middle finger up at it.

That's the one and only legal way that I can think of for U.S. citizens to
listen to cell phone calls, which blows a big gigantic hole in the cellular
industry's claims that cell phones can not be listtened in to by others because
it's against the law to do so.

Besides the Detroit/Windsor area, the same probably holds true for the Buffalo,
Ny and Niagra Falls areas.

How many U.S. citizens in Niagra Falls (U.S. side) that live there purposeely
go to Niaagra Falls (the Canadian side) and legally listen to cell phone calls
coming from the U.S. side of Niagra Falls:?