The Mahnomen Pioneer

Tapping the Wires

Rum runners developed a monthly business of $176,000 by bringing in their products from Scotland to British Columbia thence to the ports of the State of Washington. It was one of the most gigantic prohibition violations unearthed. Seventy-two rum runners and violators of the law were indicted and the chief offenders were found guilty. The Federal prohibition officers in order to secure evidence against the rum runners tapped their telephone wires. This tapping was in violation of a state statute. The rum merchants carried their case to the United States Supreme Court, claiming that their rights under the Federal Constitution had been invaded and that a state law had been violated. They must have been of intense interest to the Court as the Supreme Court Justices divided in rendering a decision of five to four. The wire tapping was held to be legal, and the conviction therefore stands.

It is interesting to find that Chief Justice Taft, once defeated for re-election for the Presidency because he was held to be a conservative wrote the majority opinion of the court, while Justice Brandeis who used to be counted a radical wrote the principal minority opinion in which he contended that the Constitution had been violated. This incidental personal glimpse shows how easy it is to be mistaken about calling people conservatives or radicals. In this case the course of these learned men was influenced wholly by their views concerning a very intricate problem. The opinions are lengthy and discuss the principles of law and the rights of individuals and the constitution in a way that would do credit to John Marshall and those other illustrious interpreters of the Constitution.

The decision will doubtless be popular with the American public, which usually agrees that judicial conclusions that do not let notorious criminals go upon mere technical grounds are right.