No. 14-5123
Huff, et al. v. Spaw
Page 16
omitted). Spaw argues that she “did not mechanically or physically manipulate the line, so no
interception occurred.” Appellee’s Br. at 25. We find this argument unconvincing for two
reasons.
First, the Williams court relied upon a misreading of Rathbun v. United States, 355 U.S.
107 (1957), by State v. Vizzini, 278 A.2d 235, 237 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1971), to conclude
that interference is a prerequisite for interception. In Rathbun, the Supreme Court considered the
meaning of “intercept” under a former provision of the Federal Communications Act of 1934, 47
U.S.C. § 605 (“No person not being authorized by the sender shall intercept any communication
and divulge or publish . . . such intercepted communications to any person.”), and held that no
“interception” had occurred when one of two parties to a telephone conversation permitted a
third party to surreptitiously listen on an extension line. 355 U.S. at 111. The Court reasoned
that “[e]ach party to a telephone conversation takes the risk that the other party may have an
extension telephone and may allow another to hear the conversation.” Ibid. The Vizzini court
interpreted this to mean that, “[s]o long as the physical integrity of the established line is not
violated, there is no interception.” 278 A.2d at 237. Williams adopted this interpretation, 507
P.2d. at 1341–42, and in doing so, conflated a sufficient condition with a necessary one. While
third-party interference with the phone line was one way to intercept communications, the use of
an unaltered phone line without the consent of either party would also qualify as interception.
Laughlin v. United States, 344 F. 2d 187, 191–92 (D.C. Cir. 1965) (holding that a § 605
interception had occurred when a party’s consent to third-party eavesdropping through an
unaltered extension line was obtained through coercion). Therefore, non-interference with a
phone line does not, by itself, prevent an instance of phone-based eavesdropping from qualifying
as an interception if the eavesdropping occurred without the consent of at least one party to that
conversation, as is the case with the Huffs.
Second, the Vizzini court mistakenly treated § 605 interception as being interchangeable
with Title III interception, 278 A.2d at 237, and Williams adopted this treatment, 507 P.2d at
1341. Title III defines interception more broadly than did § 605.9 Even if the Supreme Court
9
For example, the two statutes differ as to whether interception is possible where one party consents. In
Rathbun, the Supreme Court held that no § 605 interception occurs where a party consents to eavesdropping,
355 U.S. at 111. However, 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(c) makes clear that Title III interception can occur despite party
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