Olmstead v. United States - Significance, Court Rules That Wiretapping Does Not Constitute Illegal Search And Seizure, Wiretapping In America

Olmstead v. United States - Significance

In this, the first Supreme Court case to consider the legality of wiretaps, the Court found that because they did not involve private property, they did not violate the ban on illegal search and seizure. Later the Court would overrule Olmstead. In January of 1919, the states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which instituted a nationwide prohibition on alcoholic beverages. Lat…

Olmstead v. United States - Further Readings

Olmstead v. United States - Court Rules That Wiretapping Does Not Constitute Illegal Search And Seizure

Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Taft addressed both of Olmstead's constitutional claims. The Fifth Amendment argument was dismissed outright:There is no room in the present case for applying the Fifth Amendment, unless the Fourth Amendment was first violated. There was no evidence of compulsion to induce the defendants to talk over their many telephones. They were continually and voluntarily …

Olmstead v. United States - Wiretapping In America

In 1991 and 1992, there were 1,078 state-authorized wiretaps around the United States, according to Wiretap Report 1991 and 1992, issued by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. This was in addition to 696 wiretaps authorized by the federal government. Of the 50 states, 13 have no statute authorizing wiretaps. Twelve others, despite existing wiretap legislation, had no documented wiretappi…