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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."

5 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. deal with it by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Law enforcement officials need to get in line with the fact that society is going to require them to behave.

    Those that can't need to find another line of work.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:deal with it by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem is that there are a lot of bad cops out there. If you ore someone is getting arrested fore something they should have a record of it for themselves. There are too many cases when something goes wrong the police tape unexpectally cuts out.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:deal with it by jythie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree most cops are good people who work hard BUT police have an institutionalized problem of protecting the bad cops. So even though there are only a few bad apples, departments and fellow officers generally protect the bad cops rather then prosecute them due to the whole 'brotherhood' sticking together.

  2. Re:Hello, context here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > The law attempted to prevent audio or video recording anyone without their consent [arstechnica.com], not just police.

    IMHO, here lies the problem.

    See, Stuart the man has a right about his privacy as anyone else -- but Officer Stuart has not.

    People take different roles and live through corresponding different contexts. A Law Officer must be transparent at all times; while I will certainly not want to be nitpicky about how many post-its he uses, I certainly want his use of the gun monitored. A Police Officer has a public job and as such, he is accountable.

  3. My friends a cop... by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cops love to be dicks. Trust me.

    They dont want to be recorded because it would force them to behave.