United States v. Mario Gigante

IRVING R. KAUFMAN, Chief Judge:

Justice Brandéis tellingly observed almost 50 years ago that “writs of assistance and general warrants are but puny instruments of tyranny and oppression when compared with wire tapping.” Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 476, 48 S.Ct. .564, 571, 72 L.Ed. 944 (1928) (dissenting). Mindful of this potential danger, Congress, in enacting Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq., prescribed specific and detailed procedures to ensure careful judicial scrutiny of the conduct of electronic surveillance and the…