Berger v. New York

This writ tests the validity of New York’s permissive eavesdrop statute, N. Y. Code Crim. Proc. § 813-a,1 under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The claim is that the statute sets up a system of surveillance which involves trespassory intrusions into private, constitutionally protected premises, authorizes *44“general searches” for “mere evidence,” 2 and is an invasion of the privilege against self-incrimination. The trial court upheld the statute, the Appellate Division affirmed without opinion, 25 App. Div. 2d 718, 269 N. Y. S. 2d 368, and the Court of Appeals did likewise…