First Amendment needs the Second
I think we should give the courts a chance to fix this first. A nice, fair summary judgment process.
Then we start the revolution.
Taking pictures of cops in public. If the camera can handle it without breaking, so can the cops.
posted by ColumbusGuy @ 4:45 AM
6 Comments:
Bad news- this almost exact case went to the Massachusetts SJC (I think) about 5-7 years ago-although in that case the driver had accidentally left on the record button on his tape deck and later tried use evidence of the officer's verbal abuse of him -making profanity-laced fun of the driver's long hair or something like that - and the kid ended being prosecuted for illegal recording. The Police Officer's union spent a lot & took it up the chain and won.
Sorry- here's the link
http://seclists.org/politech/2001/Jul/0058.html
First, get the case up to the Supreme Court. If they let us down, we'll be forced to have Congress pass a law saying anything police officers do while on duty is a matter of public record, and so can be recorded.
Does this mean the people taping the Rodney King beating may have committed a crime? This seems awfully convenient for the police.
Actually it's the audio, not the video, that's illegal, so the Rodney King tape would be fine. But a recording of a conversation in a public place somehow being considered "wiretapping" is the worst piece of NewSpeak I've heard all year.
Actually if you read the case decisions in the Massachusetts case, Justice Cordy in dissent makes the point that under the majority's reasoning the Rodney King tape could have been held illegal. (Though maybe there was a sound issue there). This case has been a cause of outrage for a while and I am glad for Columbus Guy's post for the chance to relive it (my guess is that the Massachusetts was not pursued is because the rock musician defendant had no funds and 9/11 happened 7 weeks later and someone decided that it was not the most opportune time to oppose the police)-Maybe the PA case will go forward.-I think you could cobble a left-right juridical coalition on this one.
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