Florida appeals court: Phone conversations with law enforcement can be recorded without their consent
A Florida appeals court has effectively opened a loophole in the state’s long-standing law against recording telephone conversations without the permission of both sides of the call, ruling that law enforcement officers performing their official duties can be secretly recorded because they have no expectation of privacy.
The court’s decision — involving a citizen who accused the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) of misconduct — is the latest to provide new mechanisms for civilian oversight of law enforcement, even as others were curtailed in recent days by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led Legislature.
In its ruling last week, the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach threw out five felony wiretapping convictions against Michael Leroy Waite, 63, of Floral City. Waite has been engaged in a lengthy dispute over access to his property with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office as far back as 2018. The situation escalated after wildlife officers — accompanied by deputies holding rifles — sprayed herbicides in a canal off the Withlacoochee River along Waite’s property in west-central Florida.
“The Sheriff jumped on the airboat, trespassed onto my private property and pointed assault rifles at me as they ripped up and stole my ‘No Trespassing’ signs,” Waite said in an interview. He called the court’s decision groundbreaking: “I think a lot of people are going to be citing my case in the future,” he said.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/669601-florida-appeals-court-phone-conversations-with-law-enforcement-can-be-recorded-without-their-consent/
= new reply since forum marked as read
