Today I stumbled upon an article posted on TechCrunch regarding cell phone use in Illinois. I am from St. Charles, not too far from the Illinois border compared to Warrensburg, so I was pretty interested in the content . The article I found was titled "Using Your Blackberry in Illinois Could Send You to Prison" which is located here: http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/22/using-your-blackberry-in-illinois-could-send-you-to-prison/
According to the article, two civilians are being charged with illegal eavesdropping, a statute rarely enforced. These two people used their electronic device or Blackberry cell phone to record conversations with law enforcement officials. The statute, "The Illinois Eavesdropping Act, states that one may not record any audio without the consent of all parties involved." However, it is okay for law enforcement officials to do so due to a clause within the statute from what I understand. How is this fair?
I personally disagree with the prosecution of one offender, Moore, who is listed in the article. Law enforcement officials were trying to persuade her to drop the charges/complaint she had and she recorded the conversation for proof. Moore was apparently a stripper making a sexual harrassment complaint and due to society, without proof, I feel that many people would disregard her claims against the individual who sexually harrassed her or even her complaint regarding the officials if she were to make one. I would have done the same in order to have proof of attempted persuasion.I feel this subject needs further research. Just something to think about... What would you do?
I would have recorded the officers, too. That's crazy that they can record you, but you have no real protection if they pull you over on the side of the road. Does that mean Illinois cops get off without even a warning if they commit a crime and you have no evidence? I'm with the stripper on this one.
ReplyDeleteWow this is not fair one bit. You should be able to record law officials. That is how they get away with doing stuff, but if it is recorded there is no way around it for them. Sounds like these law officials are just looking out for themselves. I'm shocked to hear this is a law in Illinois.
ReplyDeleteSomebody else blogged about this, as well. I agree that it's ridiculous. Like Caleb said, if something happens, we can't have proof because it's ILLEGAL to get the proof. What kind of backwards law is that?
ReplyDeleteHere's a video you might be interested in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-vUlavs00c&feature=related
We wouldn't be able to report things like this if it weren't for the recording.