Olmstead V. United States (1928) Essay -- essays research papers

Olmstead v. United States (1928)Opinion delivered by Chief umpire TaftVote 5-4Case reached Supreme Court by writ of certiorari.Facts     The read in the records discloses a conspiracy of amazing magnitudeto import, possess, and sell hard liquor unlawfully. Involved were not less thanfifty employees, two sea-going vessels for transportation of the goods toBritish Columbia, a ranch beyond the city limits of Seattle with a large electric resistance cache to store the liquor, and many other caches around the area ofSeattle, a maintained city office with executives, secretaries, salesmen,deliverymen, dispatchers, bookkeepers, collectors, scouts, and an attorney.Olmstead was the leading conspirator and manager of the business. His invested slap-up brought him 50 percent of the total income of the company (said to beover 2 million/year), and the other 50 percent went to 11 other investors.     In the main office building there were three different telephones with abstract lines for each. Telephone communication was made throughout the city,the homes of the investors, customers, Vancouver, to and from the officebuilding and ranch. quantify were fixed for the delivery of the "stuff" to placesalong the Puget Sound and from there was transported to the variant caches.     The information leading to the arrests was made primarily by four national prohibition officers. The officers placed sma...