Posted on 06/03/2010 6:59:40 AM PDT by RoseyT
In response to a flood of Facebook and YouTube videos that depict police abuse, a new trend in law enforcement is gaining popularity. In at least three states, it is now illegal to record any on-duty police officer. Even if the encounter involves you and may be necessary to your defense, and even if the recording is on a public street where no expectation of privacy exists.
The legal justification for arresting the "shooter" rests on existing wiretapping or eavesdropping laws, with statutes against obstructing law enforcement sometimes cited. Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland are among the 12 states in which all parties must consent for a recording to be legal unless, as with TV news crews, it is obvious to all that recording is underway. Since the police do not consent, the camera-wielder can be arrested. Most all-party-consent states also include an exception for recording in public places where "no expectation of privacy exists" (Illinois does not) but in practice this exception is not being recognized.
(Story continued...)
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
As I’ve always said, the police aren’t citizens since they aren’t subject to our nation’s laws.
Pathetic.
Absurd. Illogical. Typical Statist protections (liberal / progressive control).
The NEA protects bad teachers through tenure and other means. Incompetent, redundant, or unethical government workers are next to impossible to fire. The UAW protects the lowest quality workers in their ranks versus enforcing a standard of excellence.
Protect your kingdom.
Completely unconstitutional.
So the public has "surrendered" their right to not be recorded but the police don't. No wonder they don't want cameras in the jails to catch them beating up those arrested.
It's good to be the king.
Those cameras are “not working” or the tapes are “lost” sometimes when the tapes don’t back up the officers’ stories.
“In at least three states, it is now illegal to record any on-duty police officer”
That’s a pretty stupid law. Nice way to alienate your constituents. It’s like passing a law that says you can’t give city councilmen funny looks. Except in that case, the law would encourage less beatings with heavy objects.
this law violates the exculpatory evidence rule and it flies in the face of laws which ALLOW police to record you if they arrest you how are holding you in custody, or just doing a simple terry stop.
Sure looks that way. I enjoyed your “Supreme Law” post. Very Screwtapish!
Thank you much.
I couldn’t agree more. What part of “Public Servant” do they not understand?
I think the age of citizen journalist is upon us ... Video is the new media and the tape will always tell the tale, unless it’s photo shopped.
Heck even our lame stream media could have found the tapes of the flotilla raid, if they had wanted to tell the truth.
I agree mostly with the author, the camera can be as powerful as the gun, just like the pen before it.
No need, they alone investigate themselves.
If two party consent is required, wouldn’t that prevent police dash cams from recording until the police officer got consent from the citizen being recorded?
bike800, As GraceG said, (and I wholeheartedly agree) this is just an initial step in protecting the brownshirt police state to come.
I don’t think of the problem being as much what we now call “police” as the problem, so much as will inevitably be the brownshirts to come. I respect the good law enforcement officers, but I increasingly see the deck being stacked, so to speak.
Dznutz, I pinged you because I thought it’s important to bring in all perspectives, if you care to add. I appreciate anything you can add, but know you may be busy. This is only relevant to 3 states for now, but may increasingly involve us all.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the law, guilty or not.
Not until the Court says it is, probably not in our lifetime either.
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