Cite as: 532 U. S. 514 (2001)
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
stantial governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of free speech, and they do.
Congress and the overwhelming majority of States reasonably have concluded that sanctioning the knowing disclosure of illegally intercepted communications will deter the initial interception itself, a crime which is extremely difficult to detect. It is estimated that over 20 million scanners capable of intercepting cellular transmissions currently are in operation, see Thompson, Cell Phone Snooping: Why Electronic Eavesdropping Goes Unpunished, 35 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 137, 149 (1997), notwithstanding the fact that Congress prohibited the marketing of such devices eight years ago, see 47 U. S. C. § 302a(d).6 As Congress recognized, "[a]ll too often the invasion of privacy itself will go unknown. Only by striking at all aspects of the problem can privacy be adequately protected." S. Rep. No. 1097, at 69. See also Hearings on H. R. 3378 before the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary, 99th Cong., 1st Sess. and 2d Sess., 290 (1986) ("Congress should be under no illusion . . . that the Department [of Justice], because of the difficulty of such investigations, would be able to bring a substantial number of successful prosecutions").
Nonetheless, the Court faults Congress for providing "no empirical evidence to support the assumption that the prohibition against disclosures reduces the number of illegal interceptions," ante, at 530-531, and insists that "there is no basis for assuming that imposing sanctions upon respondents will deter the unidentified scanner from contin-6 The problem is pervasive because legal "radio scanners [may be] modified to intercept cellular calls." S. Rep. No. 99-541, at 9. For example, the scanner at issue in Boehner v. McDermott, 191 F. 3d 463 (CADC 1999), had been recently purchased at Radio Shack. See Thompson, 35 Am. Crim. L. Rev., at 152, and n. 138 (citing Stratton, Scanner Wasn't Supposed to Pick up Call, But it Did, Orlando Sentinel, Jan. 18, 1997, p. A15).
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