When one thinks of "bugging" or wiretapping, one thinks of special missions or maybe dangerous police stakeouts, both of which use wiretapping as a necessary tool. Wiretaps and bugs are powerful investigative tools. They allow the eavesdropper to overhear conversations between politicians, criminals, lawyers, or lovers without the targets' knowing that their words are being shared with unwanted listeners. In light of this, it is not surprising that Congress and the courts have carefully approached wiretapping and bugging. So it makes one think is cellphone taping an invasion of the Fourth Amendment?.
The Fourth Amendment in the Constituion states: the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. .
However cellphones don't seem to be part of this Amendment. The court system seems to think that cell phones are not a secure form such as ones home telephone; where in that case there would have to involve a warrant and a specific cause. In Olmstead v. United States, a bootlegger got caught violating the Eighteenth Amendment, which is barred the sale of alcohol, moslty by wiretapping in to his phone where he worked by the F.B.I. Olmstead argued that "the wiretap amounted to an illegal search and, therefore, violated his rights under the fourth amendment" ("Wiretap Law" 1). But the majority of.
The judge's opinion was quite different; Justice Taft explained that they could not bend the Amendment to include telephone conversations. That the wires of the telephone were not apart of his belongings any less than highways were.
There have been many other cases that have arisen with the same arguments that Olmstead had over the rights of the Fourht Amendment.
