๐Ÿ“œintro to political science review

Olmstead v. United States

Written by the Fiveable Content Team โ€ข Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team โ€ข Last updated September 2025

Definition

Olmstead v. United States (1928) is a landmark Supreme Court case where the Court held that wiretapped private telephone conversations, obtained without a warrant, could be used as evidence in court because they were not physical intrusions and thus not violations of the Fourth Amendment. This decision sparked significant debate about the limits of government surveillance and the right to privacy.