Constitutional Law
Katz vs. United States
December 2, 2014
There were many Supreme Court cases in the United States, and all of them were important; but I think that Katz vs. United States is one of the most important cases. This case deals with the Fourth Amendment, which are people’s rights and being protected against unreasonable search and seizure. Katz vs. United States was a United States Supreme Court case that took place in 1960 and ended in 1969. Charles Katz lived on Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles. On his road, there were three public telephone booths he would always be talking on. He made many outgoing calls to many different states. His calls contained gambling information, and what he was transmitting over the phone was illegal. When the FBI found out about this, they set up wire-taps at the telephone booths Katz used. With all the information the FBI had heard during Katz’s telephone calls, they arrested him, because of his illegal activities (Case Brief Summary). In 1928, the Olmstead vs. United States ruled that wire-tapping public phone lines was unreasonable. They called it the “Trespass Doctrine”. Katz hired Burton Marks as his lawyer, who was well known as one of the very best. When this was taken to trial, people were fighting for, and against Katz. The people that were fighting for Katz, agreed that is was unreasonable to wire-tap a public phone booth without a warrant. The people that were fighting against Katz all said that the Fourth Amendment covers people, and not places. At his trial, this particular evidence was excluded because it was unconstitutional and an unreasonable search. The end result vote was 7 to 1, in Katz favor. So in the end, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Katz, because his rights were violated (KATZ V. UNITED STATES). Thanks to this case, warrants are needed now, so there are no more unreasonable or unlawful searches or seizures. In the courts, I believe it ended fairly for Katz. I do believe that was he did was wrong, and obviously against the law, but without a warrant, the