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 * History of Wiretapping**

Wiretapping is a very controversial issue for civil rights. The Supreme Court has made contradictory decisions dealing with this topic. It is a common issue now, especially with the National Security Agency authorized to wiretap under certain circumstances. It was authorized by the Bush administration to do so, but they are not authorized to wiretap domestic calls (meaning the call is made in the U. S. and reaches to another part of the U.S.) without warrant. To do so, the agents must get a warrant.

One example of this was when the Supreme Court ruled for the case Olmstead v. United States that police had wiretapped the petitioner, Mr. Olmstead, outside his office space on a telephone. It was ruled that this did not trespass on his Fourth Amendment rights because the wiretap did not trespass on his private property and thus was considered to not be a search and seizure. Another case, Katz v. United States, was ruled to be a violation on the petitioner's Fourth Amendment rights because the conversations that he had that were tapped in the telephone booth were meant to be private. These cases contradict each other because one says that as long as the law enforcement agents who are wiretapping do not trespass on private property they may wiretap, but the other says that even though the petitioner was on public property, that they violated the Fourth Amendment anyway by wiretapping them. This shows how controversial this issue is.


 * Timeline**

1874-Alexander Graham Bell came up with the idea of the telephone.

1875-Alexander Graham Bell realized that the telephone was possible.

1876-Alexander Graham Bell released the invention of the telephone to the world and showed it at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Without the telephone, there wouldn't be wiretapping.

1890-First wiretapping case

1913-John N. Mitchell is born

1928-Olmstead v. United States court ruling by the Supreme Court takes place.

1952- the National Security Agency is formed.

1961-Silverman v. United States.

1967-Katz v. United States court ruling by the Supreme Court takes place

1972-Watergate scandal takes place, Nixon resigns

2000 to 2001- Supreme Court case Bartanicki v. Vopper is argued in 2000 and decided in 2001. This case involves wiretapping of a cellphone.

2001-September 11th, U.S. is attacked by terrorists. In October, the USA Patriot Act is passed (stands for Uniting & Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept & Obstruct Terrorism Act)

2006-EFF files class action lawsuit against At&T because At&T allegedly gave personal records to National Security Agency

2007-Bush administration proposes bill to primarily change many rules for FISA panel for federal agencies' search warrants (warrants for wiretapping)

Navigation:History of Wiretapping--Bibliography--Virtual Legacy--Supreme Court Cases