Attorney General Jerry Brown's office has sparked debate about its interpretation of state privacy laws after it determined that a spokesman had not done anything illegal by secretly taping conversations with news reporters. At issue is state penal code section 632, which prohibits the intentional recording without consent of "confidential communication." While announcing the results of an internal investigation, Chief Assistant Attorney General Dane Gillette wrote that the privacy protection of such communication did not include on-the-record media interviews – a view that clashes with the common understanding of a state Supreme Court ruling on the law. Under Gillette's interpretation,...