Court Opinion

ID: 9461628
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:19:57.947682+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:10.776418
License: Public Domain

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I believe the wiretap evidence should be suppressed. Neither Attorney General Mitchell nor Will Wilson personally signed or initialed the authorization letter. This procedure did not accord with the statute, and the loose arrangement followed by the Department of Justice does not q'onvince me that anyone in proper authority assumed the responsibility for engaging in wiretapping. For reasons enunciated in United States v. Chavez, 478 F.2d 512 (9th Cir. 1973), cert. granted, 412 U.S. 905, 93 S.Ct. 2292, 36 L.Ed.2d 969, I would reject this evidence.
The unrestrained use of wiretapping presents/a grave potential danger undermining individual liberty and freedom. Current investigation into the Watergate incident underscores the aptness of Justice Clark’s comments in Berger v. New York, 388 U.S. 41, 63, 87 S.Ct. 1873, 18 L.Ed.2d 1040 (1967), that “Few threats to liberty exist which are greater than that posed by the use of eavesdropping devices.” Congress has authorized wiretapping only within carefully circumscribed standards. The applicable statute provides for very limited authorization of wiretap applications by federal officers, i. e., “The Attorney General, or any Assistant Attorney General specially designated by the Attorney General,” 18 U.S.C. § 2516. The statute also requires identification of “the officer authorizing the application,” 18 U.S.C. § 2518(1)(a).
I believe that because of the potential for abuse, Congress intended strict ad*125herence to all statutory provisions. Since such was not the case here, I would declare the wiretap illegal and the record of telephone conversations obtained thereby inadmissible.