In the case of Walter v. United States (1979), employees of a private freight company opened packages that were mistakenly delivered to them and discovered films they believed to be obscene. They contacted the FBI, who viewed the films without obtaining a search warrant. The Supreme Court ruled 4-4 with one abstention on whether this constituted an illegal search under the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by government officials. The tie vote upheld lower court rulings that viewing was not an additional invasion of privacy beyond what had already occurred when private individuals opened the boxes; however, it did not set precedent for future cases due to lack of majority decision.

In the dissenting opinion for Walter v. United States, Justice White argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous court rulings regarding searches and seizures. He contended that when FBI agents viewed films found in sealed packages without a warrant, it did not constitute an illegal search because they had already lawfully obtained physical possession of the items due to their suspicious nature (mislabeling). The agents didn't alter or damage them but merely played them on a projector. According to him, this act should be considered as part of "plain view" doctrine where police officers can seize evidence without a warrant if it is clearly incriminating and immediately apparent. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's assertion that playing films added extra information which wasn't initially apparent; instead he believed any additional details were just further confirmation of what was already suspected based on external examination - hence no new invasion of privacy occurred by viewing content inside these boxes.