New Jersey

New Jersey Recording Laws (2026): One-Party Consent Rules

Independently fact-checked Editor-reviewed Law current as of August 15, 2026By Recording Law Editorial TeamPublished June 5, 2026Reviewed August 26, 202614 min read

Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited August 15, 2026). · Reviewed by the RecordingLaw editorial team. · Law checked current as of August 15, 2026. · 17 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content

New Jersey Recording Laws (2026): One-Party Consent Rules

Key Takeaways

1New Jersey is a one-party consent state: under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d), any participant in a conversation may record it without telling the other parties, as long as the recording is not made for a criminal, tortious, or other injurious purpose.
2Unauthorized interception under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3 is a third-degree crime carrying 3 to 5 years in prison and a fine up to $15,000.
3Civil damages under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-24 include actual damages or a liquidated floor of $100 per day or $1,000 (whichever is higher), plus punitive damages and reasonable attorney fees.
4Hidden cameras that record intimate parts without consent violate N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9, a third-degree crime carrying 3 to 5 years; observation alone (no recording) is a fourth-degree crime.
5New Jersey enacted P.L.2025, c.40 on April 2, 2025: producing or sharing a deepfake in furtherance of unlawful behavior is a third-degree crime; the statute sets a special fine of up to $30,000 notwithstanding the standard 2C:43-3(b) schedule, with a $1,000 civil floor per violation.
6Recording police in public is protected by Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 862 F.3d 353 (3d Cir. 2017), clearly established for any officer acting after July 7, 2017.

New Jersey is a one-party consent state for audio recording. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d), any participant in a conversation may record it without notifying the other parties, provided the recording is not made for a criminal, tortious, or other injurious purpose. Recording without that consent is a third-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3 and creates civil liability under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-24.

New Jersey recording law at a glance

Question	Answer
Consent rule	One-party (N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d))
Main statute	N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-1 through 2A:156A-37 (New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act)
When recording is illegal	Recording a conversation without being a party, or for a criminal/tortious/injurious purpose
Criminal penalty	Third-degree crime: 3 to 5 years prison, fine up to $15,000
Civil penalty	Actual damages or $100/day or $1,000 floor (whichever is higher), plus punitive, plus attorney fees
Hidden cameras	Observation of intimate parts: fourth-degree; recording or disclosing intimate parts: third-degree (N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9)
Recording police	Protected by First Amendment under Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 862 F.3d 353 (3d Cir. 2017)

For a deeper look at each topic, jump to the in-depth guides section below.

Recording in-person conversations in New Jersey

The core rule comes from the New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, codified at N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-1 through 2A:156A-37. Section 2A:156A-3 makes it a third-degree crime to purposely intercept, disclose, or use any wire, electronic, or oral communication without authorization. Section 2A:156A-4(d) creates the participant exception: a person who is a party to the communication, or who has the prior consent of one party, may record without notifying the others.

The Act's coverage also has a threshold requirement that catches many people off guard: under Section 2A:156A-2(b), it only protects an oral communication where the speaker exhibited an expectation that the communication was not subject to interception, under circumstances that justified that expectation. A conversation with no reasonable expectation of privacy can fall outside the Act entirely, regardless of who is recording it. In Kinsella v. Welch, 362 N.J. Super. 143, 827 A.2d 325 (App. Div. 2003), the Appellate Division held that a television news crew's open, hand-held filming of events in a hospital emergency room did not violate the Wiretap Act, because the recording was visible to anyone present and the circumstances did not support a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The one critical limit is the tortious-purpose carve-out. The participant exception does not apply if the recording is made "for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of this State or for the purpose of committing any other injurious act." That language is broader than the federal version in (2)(d), which dropped the "other injurious act" phrase when Congress amended the statute in 1986 (Pub. L. 99-508). New Jersey kept it, so a recording made to harass, extort, or defraud someone loses the participant exception even if the recorder was present in the conversation.

The New Jersey Supreme Court confirmed the related supervisory-approval requirement for law-enforcement consensual interceptions in State v. Worthy, 141 N.J. 368, 661 A.2d 1244 (1995). For ordinary citizens, the rule is simpler: be a party, do not record for an unlawful purpose, and you are covered.

New Jersey over-the-shoulder crop of two people seated across a small table mid-conversation

Recording phone calls in New Jersey

The same one-party rule applies to phone calls. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d), a participant in a call may record it without telling the other parties. This covers landlines, cell calls, and VoIP. The audio-only coverage of the Wiretap Act means the consent requirement applies to the audio stream; screen-recording a video call is a separate analysis.

Interstate calls require extra attention. Pennsylvania is a two-party consent state under 18 Pa. C.S.A. 5703, and many New Jersey residents and businesses make cross-border calls daily. The conservative rule is to comply with the stricter state's law: for any call that touches Pennsylvania, obtain the other party's consent before recording. New York and Delaware are one-party states, so NJ-NY and NJ-DE calls follow the same one-party rule.

For a detailed breakdown, see New Jersey Phone Call Recording Laws.

Hidden cameras, doorbells, and nanny cams

The Wiretap Act covers only audio (aural) interception. Silent video falls outside it entirely. The Appellate Division confirmed this split in State v. Diaz, 308 N.J. Super. 504, 706 A.2d 264 (App. Div. 1998), a nanny-cam case where hidden-camera footage of a caregiver mistreating a child was admitted after the court held that the video portion does not come within the scope of the Act.

Silent video on your own property in common areas is generally not a Wiretap Act problem. The homeowner is a party to conversations at their front door, so a Ring doorbell or porch camera clears the one-party rule for the audio component. The FTC's 2023 enforcement against Amazon Ring (a $5.8 million settlement over human review of customer footage) is a vendor data-handling issue, not a consent question for the homeowner.

Where things become criminal is N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9, the invasion-of-privacy statute. Under subsection (a), observing someone's intimate parts without consent in a place where a reasonable person would not expect to be observed is a fourth-degree crime (up to 18 months). Under subsection (b), recording or reproducing those images without consent is a third-degree crime (3 to 5 years). Under subsection (c), disclosing the recording is also a third-degree crime, and the last sentence of that subsection authorizes a fine of up to $30,000, notwithstanding the standard third-degree ceiling in N.J.S.A. 2C:43-3(b). Property ownership provides no defense. A camera in a bathroom, guest room, or domestic worker's private quarters violates the statute if it captures intimate parts, even if you own the building.

The Diaz court also recognized vicarious parental consent: a parent acting in good faith and on an objectively reasonable belief that recording is necessary in the best interest of a minor child may consent on the child's behalf for Wiretap Act purposes.

glass-walled conference room with figures behind translucent doors

For more on home and business security cameras, see New Jersey Security Camera Laws and New Jersey Voyeurism and Hidden Camera Laws.

Penalties for illegal recording in New Jersey

Criminal exposure under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3. Unauthorized interception, disclosure, or use of an intercepted communication is each independently a third-degree crime. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(a)(3), a third-degree crime carries 3 to 5 years in prison. The fine ceiling under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-3(b)(1) is $15,000. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(e), a first-time third-degree offender benefits from a presumption of non-incarceration, though the court may impose prison if the facts warrant it.

Civil exposure under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-24. A victim may sue for (a) actual damages, but not less than $100 per day of violation or $1,000, whichever is higher; (b) punitive damages; and (c) reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs. Good-faith reliance on a court order or legislative authorization is a complete defense, but that defense is practically available only to law enforcement.

Media and third-party disclosure. A person who receives an illegally recorded conversation but played no part in the interception is not automatically liable for publishing it. In Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001), a case out of the Third Circuit, which includes New Jersey, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment barred wiretap-act liability for a radio host who broadcast a tape of an illegally intercepted phone call, because he had no role in the interception and the call concerned a matter of public interest. Anyone who directed, assisted with, or knowingly participated in the interception itself remains exposed under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3.

Statute	Conduct	Grade	Prison	Fine
N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3	Unauthorized interception, disclosure, or use (audio)	Third-degree crime	3 to 5 years	Up to $15,000
N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-24	Civil claim by victim	Civil	N/A	$100/day or $1,000 floor, plus punitive, plus attorney fees
N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9(a)	Observing intimate parts without consent	Fourth-degree crime	Up to 18 months	Up to $10,000
N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9(b)	Recording intimate parts without consent	Third-degree crime	3 to 5 years	Up to $15,000
N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9(c)	Disclosing intimate-image recording	Third-degree crime	3 to 5 years	Up to $30,000 (2C:14-9(c), notwithstanding 2C:43-3(b))
P.L.2025, c.40 (criminal)	Deepfake in furtherance of unlawful behavior	Third-degree crime	3 to 5 years	Up to $30,000 (special fine notwithstanding 2C:43-3(b))
P.L.2025, c.40 (civil)	Civil claim for depicted person	Civil	N/A	$1,000 liquidated floor per violation, plus punitive, plus attorney fees

stack of sealed white envelopes with a wax seal visible on the top one

Recording the police in New Jersey

New Jersey is in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 862 F.3d 353 (3d Cir. 2017), the Third Circuit held that the First Amendment protects the right to record police officers performing their official duties in public. The right is subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. Qualified immunity shielded the officers in the underlying 2012-2013 incidents because the right was not yet clearly established, but it is clearly established for any New Jersey officer acting after July 7, 2017.

As a practical matter, a New Jersey officer who arrests or retaliates against someone openly recording police activity in public after that date faces individual Section 1983 liability. The recorder must not interfere with police operations, must not trespass to get closer, and must comply with a lawful safety-based order to step back. None of those limits authorize seizing the phone or arresting the recorder for the act of recording alone.

State law parallels the federal protection. A public police encounter lacks a reasonable expectation of privacy, so the audio is also covered by the one-party-consent rule when the recorder is a participant. Even a bystander typically cannot be prosecuted under the Wiretap Act for recording an officer in public.

For more, see New Jersey Laws on Recording Police.

New Jersey body-worn camera clipped to the chest of a dark uniform shirt

Special topics in New Jersey

Deepfake law: P.L.2025, c.40

Governor Phil Murphy signed P.L.2025, c.40 (Assembly Bill A3540, companion S2544) on April 2, 2025. Producing or disseminating deceptive audio or visual media in furtherance of unlawful behavior (harassment, extortion, non-consensual intimate imagery, and similar) is a third-degree crime carrying 3 to 5 years. The statute sets a special fine ceiling of up to $30,000, expressly notwithstanding the standard N.J.S.A. 2C:43-3(b)(1) schedule for third-degree crimes. Knowing or reckless sharing alone is a fourth-degree crime. The civil cause of action carries a $1,000 liquidated floor per violation plus punitive damages, attorney fees, and equitable relief. Exemptions cover satire, parody, news reporting, teaching, and research; a safe harbor applies to platforms that inadvertently distribute the content.

Federal TAKE IT DOWN Act overlay

Congress enacted the TAKE IT DOWN Act (S. 146, 119th Cong.) on May 19, 2025, criminalizing knowing publication without consent of intimate visual depictions of minors and non-consenting adults, including AI-generated deepfakes. The criminal prohibition was effective immediately. Covered platforms must remove flagged content within 48 hours of victim notice starting May 19, 2026. New Jersey victims have parallel state and federal remedies: the P.L.2025, c.40 civil claim, a criminal referral under that statute and under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9(c), and the federal platform takedown demand.

Body-worn cameras and footage access

New Jersey law-enforcement officers in covered patrol assignments must use body-worn cameras under N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118.5 (P.L. 2020, c. 129). Recordings must be retained for at least 180 days, extended to three years for encounters that are the subject of a complaint. AG Directive 2021-5, updated by AG Directive 2022-1, sets the statewide policy framework; AG Directive 2019-4 governs presumptive release of deadly-force or death-in-custody footage.

The New Jersey Supreme Court expanded subject-of-recording access rights in Fuster v. Township of Chatham (Jan. 21, 2025), holding that the Open Public Records Act does not bar disclosure of body-cam footage to the person who is the subject of the recording, even if they were not arrested or charged. If a New Jersey officer with a body camera filmed you, you usually have a viable OPRA request for that footage.

Workplace recording: Wiretap Act and NLRA

A New Jersey employee who is a party to a workplace conversation may record it under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d), provided the recording is not for a criminal or tortious purpose. Under NLRB Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (Aug. 2, 2023), a blanket no-recording policy is presumptively unlawful under the NLRA unless the employer demonstrates a substantial, narrowly tailored business interest. NLRB GC 25-07 (June 25, 2025) treats surreptitious recording of collective-bargaining sessions as a per se violation, but that guidance is narrowly limited to the bargaining table.

N.J.S.A. 34:6B-22 (P.L. 2021, c. 449, effective April 18, 2022) requires employers to give written notice before using a GPS tracking device in a vehicle used by the employee. First violation: up to $1,000; subsequent violations: up to $2,500.

Federal law: ECPA and FCC rules

The federal Wiretap Act (18 U.S.C. 2510-2522) sets a one-party-consent floor under (2)(d) that New Jersey tracks. The historic FCC beep-tone rule at 47 C.F.R. 64.501 was removed effective November 20, 2017, and no longer applies. FCC 24-17 (Feb. 2, 2024) clarifies that AI-generated voice in calls is "artificial or prerecorded voice" under the TCPA, requiring prior express consent; a participant recording an AI-cloned-voice scam call may do so under both the federal floor and N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d). FCC 24-24 (the One-to-One Consent Rule) was vacated by the Eleventh Circuit in Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC, No. 24-10277 (mandate April 30, 2025), and is not in force in 2026.

Recent legal developments

April 2, 2025: Governor Murphy signed P.L.2025, c.40 (A3540), the New Jersey deepfake law establishing criminal and civil penalties for production and dissemination of deceptive audio or visual media.
January 21, 2025: New Jersey Supreme Court decided Fuster v. Township of Chatham, expanding body-cam footage access for subjects of recordings under OPRA.
May 19, 2025: Federal TAKE IT DOWN Act signed, adding a parallel federal remedy for non-consensual intimate imagery including deepfakes; platform-compliance deadline May 19, 2026.
November 2025: State Senator Joseph Cryan's two-party-consent proposal reported; did not advance. New Jersey remains one-party.
February 14, 2025: NLRB GC 25-05 rescinded Abruzzo-era policy memos (Stericycle itself unchanged).
June 25, 2025: NLRB GC 25-07 issued, treating surreptitious recording of collective-bargaining sessions as a per se NLRA violation.

New Jersey recording laws in depth

By type of recording

By place or relationship

More New Jersey laws

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Recording laws change and apply differently to each situation. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed New Jersey attorney.

More New Jersey Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Is New Jersey a one-party or two-party consent state?

New Jersey is a one-party consent state. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d), if you are a party to the conversation, or if one party has given you consent, you may record without telling the other parties, provided the recording is not made for a criminal, tortious, or other injurious purpose.

Can I record a phone call in New Jersey?

Yes, as a participant. N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d) lets any party to a call record it without notifying the others. For calls crossing into Pennsylvania (a two-party consent state under 18 Pa. C.S.A. 5703), the conservative practice is to get the other party's consent before recording.

What is the penalty for illegal recording in New Jersey?

Unauthorized interception under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3 is a third-degree crime carrying 3 to 5 years in prison and a fine up to $15,000. On the civil side, N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-24 provides actual damages or a liquidated floor of $100 per day or $1,000 (whichever is higher), plus punitive damages and attorney fees.

Is making or sharing a deepfake illegal in New Jersey?

Yes. New Jersey enacted P.L.2025, c.40 on April 2, 2025. Producing or sharing deceptive audio or visual media in furtherance of unlawful behavior is a third-degree crime (3 to 5 years; up to $30,000 fine under the statute's special penalty provision, notwithstanding the standard third-degree schedule). The Act also creates a civil cause of action with a $1,000 liquidated floor per violation, plus punitive damages, attorney fees, and equitable relief.

Did New Jersey become a two-party consent state?

No. Assembly Bill A1211 and State Senator Joseph Cryan's November 2025 proposal to require all-party consent were introduced but did not advance. New Jersey remains a one-party consent state under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d).

Are Ring doorbells and nanny cams legal in New Jersey?

Generally yes for common areas. An outward-facing doorbell camera is lawful because the homeowner is a party to conversations at the front door under the one-party rule. A nanny cam in a common area with vicarious parental consent for a minor child (as recognized in State v. Diaz) is also lawful. Cameras in bathrooms, locker rooms, or a domestic worker's private quarters that capture intimate parts violate N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9 regardless of who owns the property.

Can I record New Jersey police officers in public?

Yes. New Jersey sits in the Third Circuit, which held in Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 862 F.3d 353 (3d Cir. 2017), that the First Amendment protects the right to record police performing official duties in public. The right is clearly established for officers acting after July 7, 2017. You must not interfere with police operations or trespass, and you must comply with lawful safety-based orders to step back.

Can I record an HR meeting or my boss in New Jersey?

If you are a participant, yes, under N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-4(d), provided the recording is not for a criminal or tortious purpose. Your employer may have a no-recording policy, but under NLRB Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (2023), a blanket no-recording rule is presumptively unlawful under the NLRA unless the employer can show a substantial, narrowly tailored business interest.

Updates

August 26, 2026

Corrected the citation for the $30,000 fine ceiling on disclosing intimate-image recordings: the fine is authorized by N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9(c) itself, not by N.J.S.A. 2C:43-3(c) (which sets the $1,000 disorderly persons fine).

August 15, 2026

Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources; governing law re-checked for recent changes

August 8, 2026

Governing law re-checked for recent changes

June 5, 2026

Reviewed and approved by an editor

June 5, 2026

Restructured for readability: condensed 8,000-word dense text into short semantic sections (in-person, phone, hidden cameras, penalties, police, special topics). Consolidated deepfake, TAKE IT DOWN Act, body-cam/Fuster, workplace/NLRA, and federal overlay into tight Special Topics subsections. Added at-a-glance table and in-depth links index. Refreshed FAQ (8 questions). Re-verified core facts against primary sources: N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-3 third-degree grade confirmed; N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-24 liquidated damages ($100/day or $1,000 floor) confirmed; N.J.S.A. 2C:14-9 voyeurism grades confirmed; P.L.2025, c.40 deepfake law April 2, 2025 signing confirmed; Fields v. City of Philadelphia 862 F.3d 353 confirmed. No corrections needed. Zero em-dashes; zero banlist links.

May 9, 2026

Refreshed for 2026. Corrected civil cause of action to N.J.S.A. 2A:156A-24 (was incorrectly cited at -10 in older summaries). Added P.L.2025, c.40 (A3540 / S2544), the New Jersey deepfake act signed April 2, 2025 by Governor Murphy. Added Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 862 F.3d 353 (3d Cir. 2017) as the controlling Third Circuit record-the-police precedent (clearly established for officers acting after July 7, 2017). Added Fuster v. Township of Chatham (N.J. Sup. Ct. Jan. 21, 2025) on subject-of-recording body-cam footage access. Added body-cam mandate at N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118.5 (P.L. 2020, c. 129) and AG Directives 2019-4, 2021-5, 2021-9, and 2022-1. Updated FCC 24-24 status to vacated by 11th Cir. IMC v. FCC, mandate April 30, 2025. Removed stale 47 C.F.R. 64.501 reference (rule removed effective November 20, 2017). Added NLRB Stericycle 372 NLRB No. 113 (Aug. 2, 2023), GC 25-05 (Feb. 14, 2025), and GC 25-07 (June 25, 2025) workplace overlay. Added TAKE IT DOWN Act (S. 146, signed May 19, 2025) federal compliance, with platform-compliance deadline of May 19, 2026. Reframed A1211 and Sen. Cryan November 2025 proposals as introduced-not-enacted. Replaced commercial-codifier URLs (Justia) with njleg.state.nj.us, njcourts.gov, and uscode.house.gov. Populated keywords array (was previously empty).

May 9, 2026

March 23, 2026

Added wearable recording devices section and 2 FAQs

The Law Behind This Article

This article rests on the statutory provisions below, held in our own legal record and retrieved from the official source. Tap a section to read the operative text.

New Jersey Statutes (Unannotated)

§ 2A:156A-3Interception, disclosure, use of wire, electronic, oral communication; violationIn forcecited in 12 of our articles

3. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this act, any person who: a. Purposely intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept any wire, electronic or oral communication; or b. Purposely discloses or endeavors to disclose to any other person the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, electronic or oral communication; or c. Purposely uses or endeavors to use the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, knowing or having reason to know, that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, electronic or oral communication; shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree. Subsections b. and c. of this section shall not apply to the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, that has become common knowledge or public information.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-08-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at lis.njleg.state.nj.us

Also relied on in: New Jersey AI Meeting Recording Laws (2026), New Jersey Dashcam Laws: Legality, Mounting, and Evidence Rules, New Jersey Landlord-Tenant Recording Laws: Rights for Renters and Property Owners

United States Code Title 18

§ 2511Interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications prohibitedIn forcecited in 415 of our articles

Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter any person who— intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication; intentionally uses, endeavors to use, or procures any other person to use or endeavor to use any electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept any oral communication when— such device is affixed to, or otherwise transmits a signal through, a wire, cable, or other like connection used in wire communication; or such device transmits communications by radio, or interferes with the transmission of such communication; or such person knows, or has reason to know, that such device or any component thereof has been sent through the mail or transported in interstate or foreign commerce; or such use or endeavor to use (A) takes place on the premises of any business or other commercial establishment the operations of which affect interstate or foreign commerce; or (B) obtains or is for the purpose of obtaining information relating to the operations of any business or other commercial establishment the operations of which affect interstate or foreign…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-08-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Cited in 2,045 court opinionsMost recently applied by a court: 2026

In the courts (editorial summary, independently checked):Griggs-Ryan v. Smith (1990) applied the Section 2511(2)(d) prior-consent exception, treating a tenant repeatedly told that all incoming calls were taped as having impliedly consented. United States v. United States District Court (1972) read the then-current Section 2511(3) as conferring no presidential surveillance power.

Leading cases:

Mitchell v. Forsyth (Supreme Court of the United States 1985, 472 U.S. 511)✓The Attorney General authorized a warrantless 1970 national security wiretap that caught the plaintiff's calls; the Court held the since-repealed Section 2511(3) disclaimer left the tap lawful under Title III, and that Mitchell had qualified immunity.
United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Supreme Court of the United States 1972, 407 U.S. 297)✓The Attorney General approved warrantless wiretaps on members of a domestic group accused of bombing a CIA office; the Court read Section 2511(3) as a congressional disclaimer conferring no surveillance power, then held the Fourth Amendment required prior judicial approval.
Forsyth v. Barr (Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 1994, 19 F.3d 1527)✓Dallas police used, in an internal affairs probe of an officer, calls private parties allegedly intercepted illegally; assuming that was unlawful, the Fifth Circuit held Section 2517(1) and (2) allowed the disclosure and use, defeating the Section 2511(1)(c) and (d) claims.