NCJ Number
77879
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Dated: (June 1981) Pages: 26-31
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article focuses on the legal implications of the Katz decision in 1967 and reviews cases involving the use of visual enhancement devices to view into premises.
Abstract
In the Katz decision, the Government, acting without a warrant or other judicial authorization, intercepted the defendant's end of telephone conversations by means of two microphones attached by tape to the top of two adjoining public telephone booths from which Katz regularly made calls. The Supreme Court concluded that the Government's activities 'violated the privacy upon which the defendant justifiably relied while using the telephone,' and hence a search within the meaning of the fourth amendment had taken place. The article explores some relevant cases arising since Katz to explore the question of whether vision-enhancing devices (as opposed to hearing-enhancing devices) constitute a search for which a warrant is required. These cases include Fulbright v. United States, United States v. Grimes, Commonwealth v. Hernley, State v. Thompson, People v. Ferguson, and Commonwealth v. Williams. In each of these cases, visually enhanced viewings were not found as constituting searches for fourth amendment purposes. A total of 42 footnotes are given.