Olmstead v. United States

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 wiretapping cases during 1991 and 1992. Among these 12 states are Illinois, Louisiana, Hawaii, and Ohio, all of which are populous, thus making the absence of wiretaps surprising--unlike, for instance, in the case of North and South Dakota, which are also among the 12. In addition, the District of Columbia had no wiretaps, although Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was convicted on drug charges in 1991 after federal agents videotaped him smoking crack cocaine.

The states in the bottom half of the "top ten" had only a handful of wiretaps, ranging from 14 in Texas to 26 in Georgia. Maryland, at No. 5 on the list, had 41. But the vast majority of all state-authorized wiretaps--nearly 80 percent--took place in just four states. Pennsylvania had 153, and Florida 159. Fully half of all wiretaps took place in New Jersey (209) and New York (333), both leading areas of operation for organized crime.