Briefly summarize the key facts in Katz v. United States. Do you agree with the Supreme Court’s ruling in this case? Why did this case set such an important precedent?

Answer 1

Katz was convicted of illegal gambling based on recordings by the FBI of Katz’s side of various telephone calls made from a public phone booth; the recordings were made using a device attached to the phone booth. Katz challenged the conviction based on a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. In 1967, the case finally made it to the Supreme Court, which agreed with Katz. The court ruled that “the Government’s activities in electronically listening to and recording the petitioner’s words violate the privacy upon which he justifiably relied while using the telephone booth and thus constituted a ‘search and seizure’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.”

Some students may be supportive of the Supreme Court’s ruling in this case as it upholds the privacy of the individual over any law. This case has set an important precedent as the ruling helped form the basis for the requirement that there be a reasonable expectation of privacy for the Fourth Amendment to apply.