ACLU challenges Illinois eavesdropping act

[Gidney N Cloyd]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-aclu-privacy-lawsuit-20100819,0,2296176.story

It's not unusual or illegal for police officers to flip on a camera as they get out of their squad car to talk to a driver they've pulled over. But in Illinois, a civilian trying to make an audio recording of police in action is breaking the law.
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On Wednesday, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago challenging the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, which makes it criminal to record not only private but also public conversations made without consent of all parties.
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The ACLU argues that the act violates the First Amendment and has been used to thwart people who simply want to monitor police activity.
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The head of the Chicago police union counters that such recordings could inhibit officers from doing their jobs.
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In its lawsuit, the ACLU pointed to six Illinois residents who have faced felony charges after being accused of violating the state's eavesdropping law for recording police making arrests in public venues.

Go, ACLU! Apparently only 3 states (IL, MASS, and ORE) have a BS law like this on the books.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Good news!

[ThomCat]

2. How the hell does recording the police in public

stop them from doing their jobs. Unless, of course, they are doing stuff they absolutely don't dare have recorded.

:wtf:

Isn't that a public admission that the police are doing shit they shouldn't be doing?

And isn't that an admission that they intend to do shit they shouldn't be doing and want to be able to get away with it?

They are public employees with vast authority over the private citizens. They need to be monitored. They need to be keep under control. We have seen over and over and over again that the police are Incapable of monitoring and controlling themselves.

The public should be allowed to record the police. Hell, the public should be ENCOURAGED to record the police at every possible opportunity in order to keep the police honest. The police sure as hell aren't going to stay honest on their own.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. If the cops intimidate witnesses this way, they can stop complaining about the gangs doing it.

[Bozita]

5. +1

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. MIxed bag in MD. State AG says its legal, some county AGs disagree and cops are still aressting

people for it.