Citation[]
Berger v. New York, 388 U.S. 41 (1967) (full-text).
Factual Background[]
The appellant challenged the validity of New York's permissive eavesdrop statute (N.Y. Code Crim. Proc. § 813-a) under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He claimed that the statute established a system of surveillance which involved trespassory intrusions into private, constitutionally-protected premises, authorized "general searches" for "mere evidence," and was an invasion of the privilege against self-incrimination.
U.S. Supreme Court Proceedings[]
U.S. Supreme Court declared the New York wiretapping statute unconstitutional because it was not particular enough in describing the crime, or “the place to be searched,” or the "persons or things to be seized” as specifically required by the Fourth Amendment.