In Doherty v. United States (1971), the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a case involving the legality of wiretapping by law enforcement agencies. The petitioner, Doherty, was convicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States and other offenses based largely on evidence obtained through a court-authorized electronic surveillance of his office telephone. He appealed his conviction arguing that this violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as Title III of Omnibus Crime Control Act which regulates wiretaps. However, the Supreme Court upheld Doherty's conviction ruling that there was no violation because all procedures were properly followed in obtaining authorization for the wiretap from a federal judge who found probable cause to believe that particular communications concerning illegal activities would be obtained through such interception.

In the dissenting opinion for Doherty v. United States, the justice argued that there was a lack of sufficient evidence to support the majority's decision. The justice believed that Doherty had not been given an adequate opportunity to challenge his classification by the Selective Service System as I-A (available for military service), which he claimed violated his right to due process under Fifth Amendment. Furthermore, they contended that Doherty’s conviction should be overturned because it was based on an indictment charging him with refusal to submit induction into Armed Forces, while in fact he only refused pre-induction physical examination and processing - two different offenses under law. They also disagreed with majority's interpretation of relevant statutes and regulations governing selective service system, arguing instead that these laws were intended to provide registrants like Doherty with meaningful review procedures before being classified as available for military service.