State appeals dismissal in Michael Allison case, 75 years in prison for recording the police

[Video Link] The felony eavesdropping case against Michael Allison (who was arrested for videotaping the police in public) was thrown out by a judge. However the state of Illinois is appealing the dismissal to the supreme court to overturn the ruling. What the hell is wrong with the Illinois government? (Via Cynical-C)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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lavardera

seems like a good way to scare citizens away from exerting their rights

just sayin
WhyBother

“What the hell is wrong with the Illinois government?”

I literally do not know where to begin with this statement.
- That_Anonymous_Coward
  
  “What the hell is wrong with the Illinois government?”
  
  Years of corruption and cronyism.
  Years of an apathetic public willing to accept what they are told they should believe.
  Years of “not my problem” because they never came for me, so why rock the boat.
  Years of the Amerikan way.
  
  It would be nice if the people stopped pretending that “it is just the way things are” and started demanding better. But that takes a leader to show them the way. We’ve seen what happens to these leaders, and sadly so few seem willing to take a bullet to make a point anymore. We think we can vote and get change without having to raise our voices in protest. We think people stupid enough to protest deserve whatever the police do to them. We think free speech is a great thing, unless it slows down my commute or I have to walk around them and their damn witty signs.
  
  America – Land of the “Free*”, Home of the Apathetic.
  
  * Free as determined by jackbooted thugs who do not need to actually let you have the Freedoms promised by law.
  - Clevername
    
    You can blame the country in general when the other 49 states have two governors in a row convicted of federal corruption charges. Since 1953 Illinois has had 10 governors, 4 have been convicted of various offenses and one was acquitted.
    - http://dbcooper.livejournal.com P.F. Bruns
      
      Florida is getting there…
trefecta

“What the hell is wrong with the Illinois government?”
…

EDIT: Wow.
millie fink

“POLICE ARE ABOVE THE Illinois eavesdropping LAW.”

Says it all, doesn’t it?
Stonewalker

Illinois is sort of the epicentre of rights violations…
Kevin Faulk

When witnessing excessive force, pull out your video camera and say, “Police officers, I am beginning to record you. You may assent to this recording by continuing to use excessive force or by verbally or physically harassing me. If you object to this recording, please peaceably leave the area.”
- Guest
  
  Then you can get in trouble for interrupting an officer performing their duty. The state will pretty much go after you no matter what you do.
- marilove
  
  Something tells me you’re not a lawyer.
  - Kevin Faulk
    
    Guess again.
- EH
  
  Never talk to the police.
  - Kevin Faulk
    
    You might check into recalibrating your sarcasm detector. Or perhaps my attempt to mock the recording disclosures often given by collection agencies and “help” lines was unsuccessful.
    - Fnordius
      
      In all fairness to EH, Ashton Kemerling and marilove, sarcasm is especially hard to convey in a pure text conversation.
http://www.disoriented.net/ angusm

“I hate Illinois Nazis.” ["The Blues Brothers"]
- Felton / Moderator
  
  Beat me to it. :-)
EliZ

This is a good thing. It means the supreme court will uphold the dismissal and uphold the legality of our recording rights on a national level.
- Petzl
  
  Wait. You used “uphold a civil rights decision” and “the Supreme Court” in the same sentence? This Supreme Court? Unless you build a time machine and go backwards or forwards 20 years, ain’t gonna happen.
- flosofl
  
  It’s the State Supreme Court. So any decision will only bind Illinois.
bluest_one

Authoritarians like their athor-i-tay.
Harry Palmer

In the Lindenhurst case illustrated here the patrolman is already aware that he is being recorded by his own patrol car’s dash camera – with audio. In effect he arrests the defendant for recording a conversation that the patrolman has already consented to have recorded!

I think you can also make the argument that official acts by the police, including traffic stops, are “public acts”. They are certainly not provate – the police are acting in their capacity as public servants
Culturedropout

WHAT. INCREDIBLE. FUCKING. BULLSHIT.
https://twitter.com/misterjayem MrJM

The Chicago Police routinely videotape the arrests of Occupy protesters.

Who Videos the Video-men?