Can the police listen to your calls without a warrant? This question goes to the heart of Fourth Amendment protections and the landmark case of Katz v. United States. In this 6:24 video, attorney Anton Vialtsin explains how the Supreme Court reshaped privacy rights in the age of electronic surveillance.
Supreme Court Case: Katz v. United States
Petitioner was convicted under an indictment charging him with transmitting wagering information by telephone across state lines in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1084. FBI agents attached an electronic listening and recording device to the outside of a public phone booth, capturing his conversations. At trial, the recordings were admitted into evidence, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, reasoning there was no violation since there was “no physical entrance” into the booth.
Key Supreme Court Holdings
- The government’s eavesdropping violated the petitioner’s justifiable expectation of privacy while using the phone booth, and thus constituted an illegal police listen to your calls search under the Fourth Amendment.
- The Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. Its protection does not depend on physical trespass. The older rulings in Olmstead and Goldman were overturned.
- Even narrowly focused surveillance must be conducted with a warrant, which was absent here. Without one, the evidence was suppressed.
In short: if police listen to your calls without a warrant, that surveillance is unconstitutional.
Why This Case Matters
This ruling expanded privacy protections against government overreach. It set the precedent that even conversations—whether in a phone booth, on a cell phone, or online—are shielded by the Fourth Amendment if there’s a reasonable expectation of privacy. Modern debates about wiretapping, digital surveillance, and phone data searches still trace back to this case.
Case link: Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
About LAWSTACHE™ LAW FIRM
Anton Vialtsin, Esq.
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The San Diego-based criminal defense attorneys at LAWSTACHE™ LAW FIRM fight aggressively to protect your rights. If the police listen to your calls or invade your privacy unlawfully, we are ready to challenge that evidence and defend your freedom.