Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wiretaps by spouses actionable Court lets suit proceed

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 19:32:36 -0400

AJC: 10/18/03 

Wiretaps by spouses actionable Court lets suit proceed

By <A HREF="mailto:[email-masked]">BILL RANKIN </A>
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

Sparring spouses can no longer wiretap each other without fear of being sued 
in federal court.

In an opinion issued Thursday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 
Atlanta overturned a 29-year-old precedent that barred invasion-of-privacy 
lawsuits by spouses over wiretaps, even though the practice is a crime.

"It's about time and long overdue," said Jeffrey B. Bogart, an Atlanta family 
law and criminal defense attorney. He said he has come across divorces with 
one spouse wiretapping another to catch an infidelity "more often than I'd like 
to see."

Atlanta family law attorney John Mayoue said some studies estimate more than 
75 percent of all wiretaps are done in family settings. This includes feuding 
spouses who try to use taped phone conversations as leverage in divorce 
disputes.

"I think people in this country should be on notice we do not wiretap, 
period," Mayoue said.

In Georgia, wiretapping is a felony with penalties of up to five years in 
prison and a $10,000 fine.

But Mayoue said prosecutors, more inclined to charge more serious cases 
involving drugs and violence, rarely get involved in wiretaps in domestic
disputes.

"And most husbands and wives candidly think they just can't get DAs 
interested in this so they don't even bother to try," the attorney said.

Clayton County District Attorney Bob Keller said he could not recall such a 
prosecution during his tenure. He said local prosecutors typically get involved 
in domestic disputes only when there is physical violence or threats of 
violence.

The 11th Circuit issued its ruling in a case involving James and Elisabeth 
Glazner of Birmingham. After Glazner filed for divorce in 1999, he bought a 
recording device at Radio Shack and surreptitiously attached it to a phone line in 
their home. He then left on a trip.

While he was gone, Elisabeth Glazner detected a hollow sound on the phone 
line, checked it out, found the recording device and called police. Before the 
Glazners' divorce was finalized, Elisabeth Glazner filed a federal lawsuit 
against her husband under a 1968 law banning wiretaps of "any person."

But the case was dismissed by a federal judge, who cited a 1974 court 
precedent that said there was "implied consent" among married couples to wiretap
each 
other in their own home.

In Thursday's ruling, the 11th Circuit threw out that precedent entirely, 
noting that many other courts across the country that have considered the issue 
have ruled the other way. The 11th Circuit's decision applies to all three 
states within its jurisdiction: Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Elisabeth Glazner will now go to trial against her ex-husband, said her 
lawyer, Bruce Gordon.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/1003/18wiretap.html;COXnetJSessionID=1VBMZWb6UP4f2OpAAy14vs4d5KQWGK8n2TnVvYsIS5rayil2tU36!1511004605?urac=n&urvf=10667790202530.8855619346609588

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