Citizen Recording Public Police Work Faces 75 Years

Yet another citizen is being prosecuted for perfectly legal recording of public police action, this time in Illinois. He is charged with 4 counts, carrying up to 15 years each. Hearing for Recording Police provides the report (video).

To date, every such attack on citizens by government has ended thrown out of court but government officials not only persist but are putting more effort into the prosecutions, apparently to intimidate citizrns considering using their First Amendment rights. Some media pundits are backing the police in this, though their own interests in a free press are ill-served by it. Appeals Court Rules Filming Police Legal explains the law.

The police clearly don’t want citizens looking over their shoulder while they work, they’re concerned enough to lie to people and file false charges against innocents. Why?

Probably because they do ugly things to accomplish their assigned tasks, things they prefer voters remain unaware of and things maybe voters don’t always want to know. Sometimes they do them to the wrong people and those cases especially are covered up when possible. Cell phone cameras are threatening this and the police are circling the wagons.

As this works its way through law enforcement and the courts, pressure to abridge First Amenment righrs will grow, aidded by government’s general press to control the internet.

Rights-conscious citizens need to pay attention.