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Olmstead v. U.S.(1928)
Petitioner: Mr. Olmstead. Olmstead was running a multimillion liquor business during the period of prohibition. Four federal prohibition officers gathered incriminating evidence against Olmstead and his partners by wire tapping his office and home phones. No actual trespass on the petitioner's property took place during the interception of the phone messages.
Respondent: U.S. Government
Issue: Did the use of the private telephone conversations between the defendants and others as evidence violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Holding: No
Legal Reasoning: The Fourth Amendment only protects tangible items (e.g. houses, persons, papers, etc.). Words said on a phone are not protected under Fourthe Amendment because they can easily be seized with the sense of hearing and they don't require a warrant. Phone lines are not part of a person's house and the officers in the current case did not trespass on the defendant's property to intercept phone messages and even though the actions of the officers were unethical, they still don't mount to the level of a violation of the Fourth Amendment. **The court does not discuss the Fifth Amendment.