> For this case the guy was inside a phone booth rather than out in the open.
Is warrantless wiretapping of open-air payphones legal? Based on the TV show the wire, it's not.
Is warrantless wiretapping of open-air payphones legal? Based on the TV show the wire, it's not.
https://www.cato.org/blog/patriot-powers-roving-wiretaps
> For an ordinary non-roving wiretap, that means you show a judge the “nexus” between evidence of a crime and a particular “place” (a phone line, an e‑mail address, or a physical location you want to bug). You will often have a named target, but you don’t need one: If you have good evidence gang members are meeting in some location or routinely using a specific payphone to plan their crimes, you can get a warrant to bug it without necessarily knowing the names of the individuals who are going to show up. On the other hand, though, you do always need that criminal nexus: No bugging Tony Soprano’s AA meeting unless you have some reason to think he’s discussing his mob activity there. Since places and communications facilities may be used for both criminal and innocent persons, the officer monitoring the facility is only supposed to record what’s pertinent to the investigation.
I’m used to people citing fiction to back up poor arguments, not correct positions, which may be why I misread it. In fact this may be the first time I’ve seen it done this way.