Nearly 60 years after Katz v. United States, the Supreme Court still debates what counts as reasonable privacy
This article examines the enduring legacy of the 1967 Supreme Court case Katz v. United States, which established the "reasonable expectation of privacy" standard for Fourth Amendment protections. Nearly 60 years later, the Court's June 29 decision in Chatrie v. United States shows that debates over privacy in the digital age continue to divide the justices. The piece traces the history of Katz — a college basketball handicapper whose phone booth wiretapping case reshaped constitutional privacy law — and explores how modern technology challenges the framework the Court created in a pre-digital era.
Key quotes
When he was arrested in 1965, Charles Katz 'was probably the preeminent college basketball handicapper in America.'
The Court's 1967 decision in Katz v. United States, which held that the Constitution's prohibition of 'unreasonable searches and seizures' applies when people have a 'reasonable expectation of privacy,' continues to shape Fourth Amendment rulings six decades later.
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