(08-29-2010, 10:01 PM)--Pete Wrote: Side note: telephone landlines in suburban areas usually come to a junction box mounted outside the house. That box is only kept closed by a simple latch. Thus, since the cops can come onto your property and open this box without entering a space where you would have an expectation of privacy, would a warrant less wiretap be OK?
Presumably not - it would surprise me greatly if your private calls are not covered by a reasonable expectation of privacy, and it is that which is at issue in a wiretap, not the trivial physical contents of your junction box. What prevents police from wiretapping you without a warrant is not the physical difficulty of installing the wiretap, but the protected nature of your phone calls. Unlike tailing your movements, the police do not ordinarily have the ability to listen in on your calls without infringing on your rights.
-Jester