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Appellate Advocacy Keyed to Meador, 2nd Ed.
Mitchell v. Forsyth
Citation:
472 U.S. 511 (1985)Facts
In November 1970, Attorney General John Mitchell authorized a warrantless wiretap on the telephone of William Davidon, a Haverford College physics professor and member of an antiwar group called the East Coast Conspiracy to Save Lives (ECCSL). The FBI had informed Mitchell that this group was planning to blow up heating tunnels in Washington, D.C. and possibly kidnap National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger. The wiretap remained in place from November 1970 to January 1971, during which time the government intercepted three conversations between Davidon and Keith Forsyth. In 1972, Forsyth learned of the surveillance during unrelated criminal proceedings. Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. United States District Court (Keith) that warrantless wiretaps in domestic security cases violated the Fourth Amendment. Forsyth then sued Mitchell for damages, alleging violations of both the Fourth Amendment and Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. Mitchell claimed both absolute and qualified immunity. The litigation spanned many years, with the District Court ultimately rejecting both immunity claims and the Court of Appeals holding that denial of qualified immunity was not immediately appealable.
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