Lectures in History Supreme Court Cases and Privacy
Mar 1, 2026
Lawrence Cappello, University of Alabama history professor who teaches American constitutional history and privacy law. He traces Fourth Amendment rules through Olmstead, Katz, and Carpenter. Short takes on wiretaps, phone booths, reasonable expectations of privacy, surveillance harms, and privacy-preserving tech and legal balances.
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Fourth Amendment Protects People Not Technology
- The Fourth Amendment protects people, houses, papers, and effects but was written for tangible things in the 18th century.
- Lawrence Capello stresses the warrant requirement: police need judicial approval and probable cause before invading privacy.
Katz Created The Reasonable Expectation Test
- Katz overturned Olmstead and reframed Fourth Amendment protection around a "reasonable expectation of privacy."
- Justice Potter Stewart declared the Amendment protects people, not places, creating today's golden-rule test.
Katz Payphone Wiretap Example
- Charlie Katz used a public payphone for illegal gambling and was recorded by an FBI microphone attached to the booth without a warrant.
- The Supreme Court overturned Olmstead and Katz's conviction because agents lacked a warrant.