The federal wire tapping controversy.

The question of wire tapping was introduced into the federal courts in the Olmstead case of 1920. Here the Supreme Court held such evidence admissible and declared that wire tapping constituted no violation to the rights protected in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. Congress passed the Federal Communications Act in 1934 which in Section 605 prohibited the interception and divulgence of messages. In the first Nardone case of 1937, the Supreme Court rendered wire tapping evidence as being inadmissible in the federal courts as prohibited by the Act. In 1939 the Weiss and second Nardone cases extended the inadmissibility of such evidence to interstate, foreign, and intrastate communications. The Goldstein and Goldman cases of 1942 showed a contrast from the previous decisions when the Supreme Court began to qualify specific evidence as admissible. In the recent case of Judith Coplon in 1950 federal courts proved to be inconsistent in their views of the wire tapping controversy. Although prohibited, wire tapping is wide spread throughout the Nation. Congressional action on wire tapping is the only corrective measure that might be suggested.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1956

Author dc:creator

• Womelsdorff, Clayton Agustus, 1931-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cagle, Alvah Penn.

• Wiretapping.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/13534

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/13534