A

NARDONE v. UNITED STATES 302 U.S. 379 (1937)

After the Supreme Court largely exempted ELECTRONIC EAVESDROPPING from constitutional control in OLMSTEAD V. UNITED STATES (1928), protection against WIRETAPPING was sought legislatively. In 1934, Congress passed the COMMUNICATIONS ACT, section 605 of which provided that "no person" could intercept and divulge radio and wire communications. In Nardone v. United States the Supreme Court ruled that section 605 extended to federal agents; later the Court applied it also to state officers in Benanti v. United States (1957). The Justice Department construed section 605 very narrowly, however, and it was rarely invoked. It has been largely superseded by Title III of the OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL AND SAFE STREETS ACT (1968).