Judge rules (Illinois) eavesdropping law unconstitutional [View all]

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Judge rules (Illinois) eavesdropping law unconstitutional

Source: Chicago Tribune

Judge rules eavesdropping law unconstitutional
By Jason Meisner
Tribune reporter
11:53 a.m. CST, March 2, 2012


A Cook County judge today ruled the state’s controversial eavesdropping law unconstitutional.

The law makes it a felony offense to make audio recordings of police officers without their consent even when they’re performing their public duties.

Judge Stanley Sacks, who is assigned to the Criminal Courts Building, found the eavesdropping law unconstitutional because it potentially criminalizes “wholly innocent conduct.”

The decision came in the case of Christopher Drew, an artist who was arrested in December 2009 for selling art on a Loop street without a permit. Drew was charged with a felony violation of the eavesdropping law after he used an audio recorder in his pocket to capture his conversations with police during his arrest.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-judge-rules-eavesdropping-law-unconstitutional-20120302,0,4122460.story

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Some background may be found here:
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2012/03/eavesdropping-roundup.html


Friday, March 02, 2012
Eavesdropping roundup
By Megan Crepeau

Let's talk eavesdropping.

Well, not eavesdropping exactly - the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, which bans any recording of public conversations or public officials. A Cook County judge is expected to rule on its constitutionality today, so what better time to look back on the citizens who have a stake in this ruling?

First there's Tiawanda Moore. When two policemen showed up at her home, allegedly to talk her out of filing a sexual harassment complaint against another officer, she pulled out her smartphone and started recording the conversation. That decision led to a couple of weeks in jail and a lengthy court fight. Conventional wisdom has it that the jury let her off on a technicality, because they thought the ban on recording public officials was wrong-headed in the first place.

How about Chris Drew, a street artist arrested downtown in December of 2009 for selling art on the sidewalk without a permit. When police found out he had recorded the arrest, they added the eavesdropping charge - putting him in front of a judge for a class one felony instead of just a misdemeanor.

There's also Jerry Johnson, who got in trouble for recording a traffic stop downstate. Cartenous Turner did the same thing, but got off a little easier when the State's Attorney decided the eavesdropping law was unconstitutional. Tyrone Gillett claims that police officers assaulted him after seeing him take video of a scuffle downtown.

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