On August 26, the 1st Circuit of the U. S. Court of Appeals held that videotaping police in the course of their public duties is “unambiguously” a free speech right protected under the First Amendment!

However, that is not stopping the state of Illinois from trying a man charged with eavesdropping, after he recorded an incident in which he was confronted by police on his mother’s property.

The man is facing five counts of eavesdropping, and could face 15 years in prison for each charge.

In the 1st Circuit of the U. S. Court of Appeals case Massachusetts police argued that their privacy rights were being violated every time someone recorded them on duty.  The courts ruled that while a police officer is on duty they are no longer living a private life, they are on public duty.  The appellate judges found that citizens have a First Amendment right to record government officials carrying out their duties in a public space!

Here’s something else to think about: If police claim they can not be recorded because it violates their privacy, and is a threat to security, then their own dash cams in their police cars are illegal!  In fact all security cameras are illegal by that reasoning!  Haven’t people tried to fight security camera use using that very reasoning, and lost?  What gives police the special right to be excluded from public video and audio recordings?