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The Consensual Electronic Surveillance Experiment: State Courts React To "United States V. White", Melanie L. Black Dubis

Vanderbilt Law Review

It has long been recognized that a state, if its citizens so chose, may "serve as a laboratory" for economic and social legislation. In an era of new federalism, state courts have experimented by extending individual rights under state constitutions that the United States Supreme Court, beginning with the Burger Court, refused to recognize under the federal constitution. Although this approach has been criticized by the judiciary and academia, it continues to be a driving force in the development of individual rights.

In United States v. White, the Supreme Court held that the police practice of obtaining evidence with warrantless …