Creating A Legal Taxonomy Of Privacy - 1271 Words

Differentiating Meanings of â€Å"Privacy† â€Å"Invasion of privacy† did not exist as a separate tort prior to the 20th century. In 1960, William Prosser described how privacy came to be established in tort law and how many distinct torts fit within it, including torts for intrusion, public disclosure of private facts, and placing a person in a false light. Daniel Solove builds off of Prosser’s work, constructing a legal taxonomy of privacy focused on information collection, information processing, information dissemination, and intrusion. As this thesis aims to gain insight into how privacy has evolved conceptually within the American court system, and particularly the Supreme Court, I aim to identify conceptual divisions of privacy in the†¦show more content†¦This ruling stands in stark contrast to the Court’s decision in 1914 in Weeks v. United States, which is largely considered a landmark case as the Court’s unanimous decision resu lted in the establishment of the â€Å"exclusionary rule† prohibiting the submission of evidence to court which was obtained illegally (i.e. in violation of the Fourth Amendment by being unreasonably seized without a warrant). In his dissent in Olmstead, Brandeis made an eloquent argument that the Fourth Amendment remains applicable in the case, as individuals should have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their conversations (which, in this instance, had been wiretapped by law enforcement officials targeting bootleggers violating the National Prohibition Act). Brandeis wrote: The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man’s spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure, and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions an d their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone—the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. To protect