WaPo: Communications network providers opposed government surveillance — in 1928

WaPo: Volokh Conspiracy: Communications network providers opposed government surveillance — in 1928 by Orin Kerr:

A lot of readers are familiar with Olmstead v. United States, the 1928 Supreme Court case ruling that wiretapping a telephone line is not a Fourth Amendment search. These days, Olmstead is mostly known for later being overruled and for Justice Brandeis’s stirring dissent. But few people know about the fascinating amicus brief filed in Olmstead by a coalition of telephone companies. The brief opposed the government’s surveillance using language that rings a bell with our post-Snowden uptick in provider challenges to government surveillance.

I couldn’t find a copy of the brief online, so I obtained a copy through the GW Law library and have posted it here: Olmstead Telephone Company Amicus Brief.

Privacy nerds will want to read the whole thing. That’s easy to do, as the brief is only eight pages long. But here’s a taste for everyone else: …