YouTube Video: 75 years in Prison for Video Taping Police

There is such a thing as an eavesdropping law that prohibits citizens to “illegally” record, either verbally or visually, the actions or words of a police officer and other public officials in 12 States without their consent, which includes:

• California
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• Pennsylvania
• Washington

The Youtube video you just saw is of course of an Illnois man being charged with eavesdropping, or recording a conversation he had with an officer without said officer’s consent. He faces 15 years per five charges, equating to a hefty 75 years. 15 years, as the news pundit commented, was the same length in sentence as that of rape and murder and other such violent crimes. 

Supposedly, these eavesdroppings statues are instituted to protect officers. But from what? Already armed with pepper spray, batons, handcuffs, and, oh yeah, a gun, it doesn’t seem convincing to suggest that your average joe citizen is going to pose a threat with a video or audio recorder in any shape or form. The fact that this law has any precedent and has been used is suggestive no so much of these citizens’ supposed “law breaking” behavior but rather these cops desire to suppress our first amendment rights.

And the reasons the cops, and the judicial and legislative system of these states, is implementing these laws are not always so insidious as the report suggests of police brutality. Cops record themselves all the time. This eavesdropping law, though, indicates a that cops need to control. And since cops are merely one peg in mechnism of our governmental institution, it’s thus even more indicative that these States’ government’s feel the need to control. Most likely the reason the legislation to support these obviously hackeyed schemes of social control were to prevent unsavory public backlash after events like Rodney King and the L.A. riots the proceeded his beating and his assailants’ vindication. Simply put,  eavesdropping laws are emplaced not to protect cops, but rather are implemented to protect their brutality and overreaching actions of authority, either violently or sometimes non-violently.  

But, like a cruel Kafka story come to life in the 21st-century, these laws will only come to hurt the public, invariably allowing police and legislators to suppress a citizen’s right to know what their police force is doing beyond their contractual obligations to protect and serve. If you do live in any of the aforementioned States and haven’t yet taken action to engage in public discourse of how abusive these eavesdropping laws are, I would encourage you to do so. Write your Congress(wo)man a letter, start a petition, flood your governor’s office with calls of discontent about these ridiculous laws.