An Illinois judge ruled the state’s eavesdropping law unconstitutional as applied to a man who faced up to to 75 years in prison for secretly recording his encounters with police officers and a judge.Share: · Facebook· LinkedIn· EmailPrintLink“A statute intended to prevent unwarranted intrusions into a citizen’s privacy cannot be used as a shield for public officials who cannot assert a comparable right of privacy in their public duties,” the judge wrote in his decision dismissing the five counts of eavesdropping charges against defendant Michael Allison.“Such action impedes the free flow of information concerning public officials and violates the First Amendment right to gather such information,” he wrote.The ruling is the most recent development raising questions about Illinois’ strict eavesdropping statute, which makes it a felony to use a device to audio record or overhear a conversation without the consent of all parties involved, regardless of the circumstances of the interaction.
via RCFP: Strict eavesdropping law ruled unconstitutional in Illinois case.
Doesn’t this come down to an expectation of privacy? Should a judge in a public proceeding have such an expectation? -TRP
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