Silverman v. United States

Silverman v. United States, 365 U.S. 505 (1961), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously held that a federal officer may not, without warrant, physically place themselves into the space of a person's office or home to secretly observe or listen and relate at the man's subsequent criminal trial what was seen or heard.

Silverman v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 5, 1960 Decided March 6, 1961
Full case name	Silverman v. United States
Citations	365 U.S. 505 (more) 81 S. Ct. 679; 5 L. Ed. 2d 734; 1961 U.S. LEXIS 1605; 97 A.L.R.2d 1277
Case history
Prior	Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Holding
A federal officer may not, without warrant, physically entrench into a person's office or home to secretly observe or listen and relate at the man's subsequent criminal trial what was seen or heard.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · Felix Frankfurter William O. Douglas · Tom C. Clark John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Charles E. Whittaker · Potter Stewart
Case opinions
Majority	Stewart, joined unanimously
Concurrence	Douglas
Concurrence	Clark, joined by Whittaker
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

External links

• Text of Silverman v. United States, 365 U.S. 505 (1961) is available from:  Justia  Library of Congress  Oyez (oral argument audio)