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Cook County Judge Says Law Banning Recording Police Is Unconstitutional

Posted by timothy on from the isn't-anyone-offended-by-the-original-charge? dept.

schwit1 writes "A Cook County judge Friday ruled the state's controversial eavesdropping law unconstitutional. The law makes it a felony offense to make audio recordings of police officers without their consent even when they're performing their public duties. Judge Stanley Sacks, who is assigned to the Criminal Courts Building, found the eavesdropping law unconstitutional because it potentially criminalizes 'wholly innocent conduct.' The decision came in the case of Christopher Drew, an artist who was arrested in December 2009 for selling art on a Loop street without a permit. Drew was charged with a felony violation of the eavesdropping law after he used an audio recorder in his pocket to capture his conversations with police during his arrest."

3 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Link to Article Please by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ars is covering it...

    http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/illinois-judge-law-barring-recording-police-is-unconstitutional.ars ...with lots of nice links.

  2. Re:You can't have it both ways by AngryDeuce · · Score: 5, Informative
    After all, look at the "failure" rate!!:

    Lawyers for McCarren say she was investigating possible misuse of government resources and following a county official when she and her cameraman were pulled over by seven police cars. The official had called police about a suspicious vehicle.

    McCarren says police dislocated her shoulder and tore her rotator cuff in the incident. Neither she nor her cameraman, Peter Hakel, was ever charged with any violations.

    [...]

    Questions still remain unanswered as to why police were unable to produce video of the incident from their cameras.

    Prince George's County Police vehicles are required to have dashboard video cameras operating as part of an understanding with the U.S. Department of Justice reached in 2004.

    Police have denied repeated media outlet requests to review the video.

    At the time of the incident county officials, including County Executive Jack Johnson, said none of the cameras in the seven police cars was working.

  3. Re:deal with it by AngryDeuce · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are too many cases when something goes wrong the police tape unexpectally cuts out.

    Or this one where seven independent police tapes unexpectedly cut out!!

    And police wonder why people are automatically defensive and nervous around them...