Is That Phone Call REALLY Private?
BY ELISSA BERNSTEIN

Barry patted his ex neighbor on the back. "You're looking great, Lou."

"I've been working out. Divorce really agrees with me," Lou strutted into Barry's living room. "You know, I haven't been to your house since...since..." Lou's voice started to falter.

Barry didn't notice his friend's discomfort. "Since you were living next door, suffering in that awful marriage. Sheila really was a piece of work..."

"Yeah..." Lou plopped down into the easy chair. "I MISS HER."

Barry was shocked. "But I thought..."

"She drove me crazy but I was even crazier to let her go."

Barry brought him a drink. "Actually, Sheila's pretty lonely too."

"How would you know?" Lou perked up. "You're not making time with my ex, are you?"

"Of course not, buddy. I got this cool scanner. Here...listen."

Lou put on the headphones. "I can hear Sheila talking on the phone. You're spying on my ex?"

"I'm spying on ALL the neighbors," Barry grinned.

Lou kept listening. "Whoa...she wants to send the kids to some fancy summer camp. Who's going to pay for that?"

Every week, Lou came over to listen to tapes of Sheila's phone conversations. "Listen to this. She thinks she can afford red velvet dining room chairs."

A few days later, Lou's mother called

Sheila to arrange to visit the children.

"Hello, Marge," Sheila still had a soft spot for her ex-mother-in-law. for letting me take the children out. They do get a little wild in the restaurant, but we manage. I must say you're brave to get red velvet chairs."

"How did you know?" Sheila was stunned.

"Lou told me. See you later."

Sheila sat in the kitchen, thinking. "Hmmm... the only person I told was my friend Eleanor last week on the phone."

Sheila stared at the phone. "Wait a minute... I've heard stories about portable phones..."

Suddenly, things clicked. "Lou has been over at Barry's a lot lately...and Barry's always into gadgets..."

A few days later, Barry found the police at his door.

"We have a search warrant..."

Lou and Barry were charged

with eavesdropping.

IN THE COURTROOM

The police argued firmly. "Your Honor, the law says you can't eavesdrop on a private conversation without the consent of the parties. They're guilty."

Lou was incredulous. "But, Your Honor, those cordless phone conversations were hardly 'private'. How could you expect privacy with a cordless phone?"

Are Lou and Barry guilty of eavesdropping? YOU! Be The Judge. Then look below for the court's decision.

THE DECISION

"Guilty!" held the Judge. "Even though Sheila's conversations were susceptible to eavesdropping, that doesn't mean they weren't private. She had a right to expect not to be overheard when talking on her cordless phone."