Katz v. United States Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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Katz v. United States | 389 U.S. 347 (1967)

Imagine that you call someone and take steps to make sure that no one else can hear your conversation. May police officers, without the consent of either of you, freely listen in? Or do they need a search warrant for that? The United States Supreme Court addressed this issue in Katz versus United States, one of the most important Fourth Amendment cases in the Court’s history.

Charles Katz went into a public pay phone booth on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. He closed the door and called bookies in Boston and Miami. FBI agents knew that Katz was using the pay phone to place illegal bets on basketball games, a violation of federal laws against interstate gambling. Without a search warrant, agents placed an electronic listening device on the outside of the phone booth, which enabled the agents to listen to and record Katz’s side of the conversation. In the recording, Katz was clearly making bets.

Using that recording, the federal government later obtained an indictment from a grand jury. The indictment charged Katz with multiple counts of illegal interstate gambling. Katz pleaded not guilty and had a jury trial.

At trial, Katz objected to the admission of the recordings on the ground that the agents had engaged in an unconstitutional search and seizure. The district court overruled the objection, and the jury convicted Katz. Katz appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed his conviction.

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